Sekirei: Unique Circumstance
by dripley11
Summary: Yume had saved the day on the bridge. She'd defeated the Disciplinary Squad and brought Musubi back to everyone. However, unforeseen complications arise after they'd all made it back to Miya's Inn. Maybe the Sekirei of Fate is just another pawn to Fate itself.
1. Chapter 1

**Pre-Story A/N:** This story will be working off of the Manga, not the Anime. So a few things will seem different here at the beginning if you haven't read the Manga yet. Nothing is out of place and everything is as it should be for this story. If you want to confirm it for yourself go read Chapters 41-50.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Minato Sahashi was concerned.

No, _concerned_ didn't even begin to cover what the two-time ronin was feeling at the moment.

He was completely and utterly _terrified._ Not for himself, but for the beautiful, oblivious woman who'd – literally – crashed into his life.

Three days had passed since that debacle-turned-successful escape plan for Haruka and Kuno. They'd severely underestimated the strength of the Disciplinary Squad of MBI, and it _had_ cost them. Badly.

Even if it was only temporary, Musubi had been lost. In her battle with Number One-Zero-Five, Benitsubasa, Musubi had been beaten – soundly. Her Sekirei Crest had dissipated right before him and Minato had been certain at that moment that he'd really lost the bubbly brown-haired girl. Right when he'd been certain of his own death at the hands of the same girl who'd defeated Musubi however, something amazing had happened.

Somehow, Musubi had started glowing. She'd then stood back up and on her stomach shown a different number than Musubi. Musubi was Sekirei Number Eighty-Eight; there was no doubt in the mind of any of the residents of Izumo Inn of that fact – Musubi always introduced herself that way. But there, on Musubi's stomach, in glowing letters, were the Numbers Zero-Eight.

Musubi had then declared her new self to be the head of the Disciplinary Squad, Sekirei Number Eight, Yume – the Sekirei of Fate. Yume had then fired what had to have been some type of energy beam, almost exactly like the kind Minato had always seen in his favorite Manga about a certain character from a planet of monkey-like people.

Then the new-presence had simply grabbed Benitsubasa and – all the while still covering her breasts with one of her arms – just threw the Disciplinary Squad member almost to the other shore across the river. All the while Tsukiumi and Minato had merely gawked and gaped at the sheer power and strength the Sekirei of Fate displayed. She'd soundly defeated the Sekirei who'd given them such trouble and defeated Musubi with barely any effort whatsoever.

After waving goodbye to the still-sailing Red Sekirei, Yume had – somehow – brought Musubi back to them all. Musubi didn't even seem to notice that anything had happened at all. In fact, to her it seemed that she'd just woken up from a nap, not been basically revived from the dead.

Haruka and Kuno had then successfully escaped away from the life-or-death game of the Sekirei Plan with Kazehana using her powers to literally _blow_ the pair of Sekirei and Ashikabi to their freedom together. After that Minato, Musubi, Tsukiumi, and – the newest Sekirei in their merry little band – Kazehana all returned to Izumo Inn together. However, as soon as Miya had greeted them all at the door – with Hannya mask in tow when she saw Kazehana all over Minato and Musubi's state of undress – Musubi had begun panting.

Minato had been worried when Musubi had started panting, but he'd chalked it up to her sheer exhaustion from everything that his first Sekirei had been forced to endure these last few hours. Every time this had happened to any of his Sekirei they'd be right as rain after a night's rest, but that wasn't the case that night.

That night a terrified scream had come from the room Musubi and Tsukiumi had been sharing ever since Miya had created their current living arrangement. Every resident of Izumo Inn – even Uzume and Kagari – had run to the room to see just what was wrong. Minato had been there first as his room was the closest to it, and there he found Tsukiumi shivering in a corner of the room with fear-filled eyes directed towards Musubi's sleeping form.

Minato would never forget what he'd been told that night.

* * *

_Flashback – Two Nights Prior_

Minato walked over to the shivering form of Tsukiumi. He knelt down in front of the blonde beauty – who didn't seem to acknowledge his presence – and slowly wrapped one of her shaking hand with one of his.

"Hey," the Ashikabi called out to the terrified woman softly. "What's wrong Tsukiumi?" he asked with genuine concern while giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

Tsukiumi blinked twice and then finally noticed his presence before her. Without saying a word the prideful and strong Water Sekirei buried her face in her Ashikabi's chest and actually _cried._ "Twas terrifying," she kept on repeating into his chest.

Minato didn't have a grand amount of experience in dealing with crying, terrified women, but he did have to help Yukari any time she'd been frightened by something, so he did what he always used to do for his little sister. The young man tried to be brave for the woman crying into his chest and wrapped her in a comforting embrace. He ran his hand gently down Tsukiumi's back while whispering comforting words in her ear to help calm her down.

After a few minutes, Tsukiumi had finally stopped crying and looked up from her Ashikabi's chest. Her brilliant blue eyes met Minato's grey ones and the young man could still see the fear in his fourth Sekirei's eyes.

It was the first time he'd ever seen her in such a state. As his mind went back to the Sekirei he'd always associated with strength and courage, Minato could only wonder, _What could make her _this_ scared?_

"Thank you, Minato," Tsukiumi finally spoke up in a barely audible whisper.

The wayward college student gave her a warm, reassuring smile in response. "No problem," he reassured the blonde woman. "You'd do the same for me."

The Water Sekirei grew an unnatural blush and averted her eyes. "Of course," she mumbled.

A throat being cleared brought Minato back to why he'd come to the room in the first place. The two of them separated quickly and Minato looked at the group gathered in the doorway to Musubi and Tsukiumi's room.

Miya had her usual grin on her face – the one that was usually followed by the mysterious manifestation of one of her dreaded Hannya masks. Kazehana was swooning over the love present in the room between Tsukiumi and Minato. Kagari was looking at Minato with an oddly calculating gaze, like he was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle. Uzume looked uncomfortable for some reason or another – who could blame her; she was surrounded by another Ashikabi's Sekirei. Kuu was rubbing sleep from her eyes and letting out a cute yawn. Matsu had that usual gleam in her eyes like she'd found something interesting and wanted to 'experiment' with it.

"Now then," Miya spoke up with her sweet voice and her smile still in place. "Why don't you explain why you're in a room with two women in the middle of the night Minato." There's the mask.

An involuntary shudder traveled down Minato's spine as the Hannya visage appeared. "Wait, Landlady-dono," he began hurriedly. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"Then just what might it be then?" Another mask appeared over her other shoulder. "It looks like you snuck into Musubi and Tsukiumi's room and are disregarding the rooming plan. Even after I've _repeatedly_ told you that illicit affairs are _expressly_ forbidden here in Izumo Inn."

"Miya," Uzume came to Minato's defense. "We all heard a scream and –"

"What was that Uzume?" Miya and her masks turned towards Uzume.

"Nothing!" Uzume waved her hands in front of her hurriedly in surrender before the dreaded third Hannya appeared.

"'Twas my fault Landlady-dono," Tsukiumi spoke with her usual confidence returned. Miya and her masks then turned towards the blonde Sekirei. "I-I was frightened by something," her confidence – like anyone's when those dreaded masks appeared – began to waver. "I let out an unsightly scream and mine own husband came to comfort me."

"Comfort?" Miya turned towards the only Ashikabi in all of Izumo Inn and the third mask appeared.

"Well… It was good knowing you Minato," Uzume gave him a salute.

"Miya," Kazehana whined, "don't hurt my love. I just got him."

"Wait!" Minato insisted before Miya could pull out her ladle, or worse, her sword. "I swear I only came here to make sure that Tsukiumi was alright. I heard her scream and I ran over to make sure nothing was wrong. Honest!"

"'Tis true," the blonde beauty reaffirmed. "I was in no state to even attempt a denial – not that I ever would as his proper wife – should my husband have requested anything of _that_ nature. He made no move to do anything but allow me to cry into his chest."

"Very well then," the violet-haired, Hannya-mask wielding landlady accepted with a nod as her masks all disappeared. Everyone let out a collective sigh in relief while Miya asked, "Now why did you scream? As Uzume said, we all heard you yell."

_Why does she continue to do this to me?_ Minato silently whined while he wiped the sweat off of his brow that had accumulated from the harrowing experience of staring down all three masks. _It's like she likes to see me squirm like this._

Tsukiumi cast a single furtive, fearful glance over to her roommate. "Her," she answered. "Something is _very_ wrong with Musubi."

Minato's eyes widened in fear and in the next instant he was kneeling at Musubi's bedside.

"Wow," Matsu breathed out. "He may have been faster there than even you Kazehana."

Kazehana simply blinked as she looked back and forth from Tsukiumi's side – which was where Minato had been before she'd blinked and he'd disappeared – to the other side of the room where he was kneeling at Musubi's bedside. "You may be right Matsu," the Sekirei of Wind agreed with her perverted housemate.

"That's… pretty good," Uzume spoke up in confusion as she too looked back and forth like Kazehana.

Kuu had laid down on Tsukiumi's mattress and fallen back asleep while letting out an adorable little snore-bubble.

Kagari simply blinked as he copied Kazehana and Uzume.

Miya covered her smile with a hand as she let out, "Ara, ara."

Minato laid a hand on Musubi's forehead, looking for a fever of some kind. There was no fever, but as he removed his hand he noticed the sheen of sweat coating Musubi's entire body. She was letting out slow, deep breaths, but Minato realized that the brown-haired Sekirei was panting heavily for breath.

"Matsu!" the Ashikabi called. He needed her knowledge.

"Yes, Mina-tan?" the Sekirei of Wisdom answered.

"Can Sekireis get sick?"

"Nope," the glasses-wearing woman answered immediately in a matter that left nothing for discussion. "At least, not to anything here on Earth. Our genetic make-up is so fundamentally strong that there doesn't exist a single disease on Earth that can affect us. We could beat cancer, malaria, HIV, AIDS, you name it."

"So there's no way Musubi's sick then?" He really didn't want to get his hopes up, but if Matsu says it's impossible, then it's impossible.

"No possible way," the orange-haired Sekirei confirmed.

"Thank God," Minato let out a sigh in relief.

"She may not be ill," Tsukiumi spoke up again, "but there is _something_ unnatural going on with her."

"What do you mean?" Matsu had asked before Minato got the opportunity. The Sekirei of Wisdom's playful personality was replaced by one of utmost seriousness. This was not the time for playing.

"It… 'Twas a terrifying feeling," Tsukiumi unconsciously shivered as she held her own arms. "I felt as though I was being suffocated by nothing but sheer power. Mine own abilities were naught but a drop in the ocean compared to this force. The only forces said to be this powerful are the Black Sekirei and Number One before she died.

"This power _felt_ like it needed an outlet, and I was it. 'Twas not full of malevolence, but impatience. This force was so powerful that it stole the very breath from mine own chest and then refused my attempts to breathe and right myself.

"I truly thought myself dead, and then it simply disappeared. I frantically searched our room for any sign of this being and was unable to ascertain whomever it was that held such power. That was when I realized that only myself and Musubi were in the room, and the power didn't originate within myself. That was whence I screamed and Minato found me."

The room became deathly silent as Tsukiumi finished her story. For a few moments the only sound were Kusano's soft snores while everyone came to grips with what the blonde woman had just told them. Everyone's eyes were on the panting, sweat-covered, sleeping form of Minato's first Sekirei.

_End Flashback_

_Just what happened on that bridge?_ Minato continued to ask himself. The only event that anyone could think of that might've created this situation was when 'Yume' appeared that night, but no one had a clue as to _why_ it was happening. Matsu hadn't left her room in two days because she was still trying to figure out just what had been happening with Musubi.

The generally happy atmosphere of Izumo Inn was now plagued with a heavy somberness. Minato's mood had been horrible the last two days. He couldn't help but blame himself for whatever it was that was happening to Musubi. His Sekirei and even Uzume had all been working to cheer him up and tried to assure him that nothing was his fault at all, but he just couldn't bring himself to believe them.

"Onii-chan," Kuu called from his lap. They were sitting on the couch watching the television while Miya was making lunch. Kazehana and Tsukiumi had continued to Shopping-Challenge in Musubi's absence – Tsukiumi _still_ had yet to win once – and were both out competing with each other again. Kagari had gone out earlier and didn't say when he'd be back. And Uzume was asleep in her room.

"Yeah Kuu?" he answered his smallest Sekirei.

"Is 'nee-chan gonna get better soon? I miss her."

"I do too," Minato sighed. "And I really hope so. Matsu's trying to help Musubi get better, and if anyone can do it then it's her."

Kuu let out an adorable squeak in agreement as she bobbed her head up and down. "Ghosty Glasses-chan can do it!" the youngest Sekirei declared as if it were only that simple.

A faint smile wormed its way through the layers of depression and self-loathing at the little girl's attitude. "Yeah," he couldn't help but agree, and he began to believe it himself. "She can do it."

Just then they heard a knock come from the front door. Miya then called from the kitchen, "Can you get that Minato? I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Sure," the Ashikabi answered the landlady. He then put Kuu on his shoulders and walked to the front door while the adorable Sekirei atop him was squealing in delight. As he opened the door he said to the newcomer, "Welcome to Izumo Inn. How can I –" He couldn't finish as he opened to door.

Standing before him was a woman he was _quite_ familiar with. The person at the door was a slender woman with grey, shoulder-length hair and a familiar shade of grey eyes. She was wearing a white lab-coat, a pink button-up shirt with a black tie, and a pair of black jeans. The scar over her left eye was new, but there was no doubt that Minato Sahashi knew this woman.

"M-Mom?" Minato began, hoping this was all an illusion, a dream, anything other than this. _How am I gonna explain how I'm living with four women and a small child?_ he mentally panicked. _I'm not allowed to talk about the Sekirei Plan!_

"Professor!" Kuu squealed in excitement as she jumped off of Minato's shoulders and dove into Takami's chest.

The grey-haired woman returned Kuu's hug with a smile on her face. "It's good to see you again Kusano," Takami said to the child. "I'm really happy that you were able to find such a good Ashikabi."

"Onii-chan takes great care of Kuu!" the child yelled.

Minato's brain completely derailed as his mind fully processed the last word his mother had said. "You-you mean…" he tried to ask, but his mind decided to remain shut down.

"Yes, Minato," his mother confirmed his unfinished question. "I'll answer all of your questions later though. I'm here for something else right now." She then set Kusano down and the child gazed upwards at Minato's mother.

"My, my," came Miya's voice from behind Minato. "What might Takami Sahashi be doing at my humble home?" Minato didn't need to turn around; he could _feel _the masks appear behind him. "I've made it _very_ clear that MBI has no reason to be here."

Takami merely fixed Miya with a hard stare, apparently undaunted by the three Hannyas. "You can cut that out Miya," she said simply. "If Takehito couldn't get it to work on me, then there's no way that you can. Regardless of how powerful you are. And I'm not here as an MBI representative nor as the head of the Sekirei Plan. I'm here as Minato's mother and Musubi's mother-in-law."

Minato's world stopped crumbling around him long enough for him to ask his mom, "In-law?"

Takami smiled at her stunned son. "The bond between an Ashikabi and Sekirei is basically akin to a marriage. Now then," she directed towards Miya with a stern look. "I'm here about the reactivation of Number Eighty-Eight, as well as the simultaneous _resurrection_ of Number Eight."

"What do you mean?" Minato managed to ask.

A pained grimace flashed across his mother's face as she said, "Thanks to a bizarre situation that not even that fool Minaka could predict, there is now a unique circumstance where two different Sekireis are becoming one-and-the-same." Her own grey eyes locked with her eldest child's and she revealed, "Yume and Musubi are combining into a single entity."

* * *

**A/N:** The story has now begun! This idea actually came to me about two weeks ago and the ideas kept on flowing so... here you go.

This is a great idea that hit me when I re-watched the Sekirei series and it just didn't want to disappear at all. Idea after idea popped up and so I eventually came up with enough to warrant a try.

To all of my fans from the CG story: _Once More, with Feeling, _you all can relax. I'll be returning by the end of next week at the absolute latest. I'm planning on uploading the Naruto fic - _The Fourth's World - _also this week. My focus will be on developing each of these fics up to a certain point before focusing back on CG and arguably the most complicated and difficult portion of that story (which will demand my full attention to detail).

So I really wanna know what all of you readers think about the idea behind the story. In most of the Sekirei fics I've read either Yume replaces Musubi or Musubi isn't around anymore. Here, I'm combining them to make an entirely new, yet not new character. The next chapter will explain what's actually going on in more detail, and Takami will also end up answering a lot of questions. So... If you haven't read the Sekirei Mangas, get to it. Because I really don't want to be the spoiler for everything that's going to happen.

So let me know what you thought about the idea and how I portrayed the characters. Did I get them all right? If not, just tell me and I'll adjust what I'm doing. Don't be afraid to leave me suggestions either. I've got my plans for this fic, but that doesn't mean that I can't add more meat to the story with some of your suggestions. I actually appreciate it. Now remember, at this time the second stage is going on. Minato's current Sekirei are as listed: Yume/Musubi, Matsu, Kusano, Tsukiumi, and Kazehana. Homura/Kagari is beginning to react to Minato, but has not yet been winged. If you've got any ideas or suggestions please leave 'em, and if I like the idea I'll find a way to incorporate it into the story.

Thanks for giving my newest child a chance. Fav, Follow, Review. You know the drill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"W-What?" Minato stuttered. "What do you mean mom?"

"That's what I thought was happening," Miya said and Minato whirled around to face the kindly, yet terrifying, landlady with confusion written all over his face. "When Tsukiumi described what she'd felt, that was the only conclusion I could come to."

"It seems your intellect is still as dangerous as ever," Takami nodded towards Miya. She then directed towards her son, "M.B.I.'s sensors picked up on that power surge two nights ago. It wasn't easy to dissuade Number Four from coming here as she'd also felt Yume's power spike."

"She wouldn't have made it past my door," Miya spoke darkly. "I would've made certain of it."

"Of that I have no doubt," Takami agreed. She then asked Miya, "May I come in so we can discuss what this means? I'd also really like to meet the women in my son's life."

"Kuu's 'nee-chans are amazing!" the youngest Sekirei piped up energetically. "But ever since blondy 'nee-chan showed up everyone fights over 'nii-chan."

"Is that so?" the Ashikabi's mother responded. "And you're not letting them win, are you Kuu-chan?"

"Kuu never loses!" The child stuck her chest out in pride. "Kuu's always sitting next to 'nii-chan!"

Miya and Takami both smiled at the small blonde. "Come in Takami," Miya said with a smile that wasn't accompanied by a Hannya mask for once. "I'm about done with lunch and the other two should be back right about," Kazehana landed in the front yard with her half of the shopping in her hands about two seconds before Tsukiumi also fell from the sky, "now."

"Looks like I win again Panty Flasher-chan," Kazehana cooed as a breeze blew up around her.

"'Tis an unfair competition whence you use thine powers to achieve an advantage," Tsukiumi yelled at her fellow Sekirei.

"All's fair in love and war," the Wind Sekirei winked at her rival.

Tsukiumi huffed indignantly but didn't attempt to refute the older woman's logic. Every time she'd tried to Kazehana had left the Water Sekirei wanting to bang her head on something. The blonde woman then noticed the crowd at the door. Her blue eyes locked on Minato's and she exclaimed, "How wonderful for the husband to greet his wife as she returns from battle! Unfortunately, I have been bested once again in the Shopping-Challenge. 'Tis as agreed that Kazehana will be on your side for lunch Minato."

Kazehana noticed to new addition and narrowed her eyes. "Takami," she greeted evenly.

"Kazehana," Minato's mother returned the same way. "So you've gotten your claws into my son now?"

"Oh you misunderstand," his newest Sekirei began to swoon. "Minato's manliness on the bridge that night won me over and quenched the fire of my previous love."

"Now, now," Miya spoke up before the situation might escalate any further as two masks appeared behind the landlady. "There shall be no fighting at the Izumo Inn. Or do I need to get involved?"

Kazehana and Takami glared at one another for another moment and Minato swore that he saw lightning come between the two women as they stared each other down. Kazehana broke her gaze away first, causing Takami to smirk in victory. "No, Miya," the Wind Sekirei answered the landlady. "Besides," she added on, "I've got no reason to hate the person who brought my love into our world."

Minato noticed his mother's eye twitch and decided to play peacekeeper. "I'm sorry Kazehana," he apologized for what he was about to do, "but I haven't been able to spend much time with my mom since this whole Sekirei Plan business came into my life. Would it be okay for my mom to sit next to me for lunch? I know you just won the Shopping-Challenge, and I promise that I'll make it up to you, but can my mom sit next to me for lunch?"

Kazehana looked like she wanted to say something in protest, but a sharp gaze from Miya silenced that thought. "Thant's fine love," she sighed in resignation. A mischievous gleam then shown in her eyes that eerily resembled Matsu's. "It's only proper to be nice to my _in-laws_ when they come to visit us."

Takami and Tsukiumi both bristled but Minato piped up before anything else could be said, "Let's have lunch!"

"Yay!" Kuu agreed enthusiastically. A deep rumble then came from the smallest Sekirei and she froze as everyone's eyes came to the child. "Kuu might be a little hungry," she admitted with a cute blush.

"Kawaii!" Kazehana squealed as she glomped the youngest Sekirei.

Takami and Miya both chuckled before the violet-haired lady led everyone into the dining room. Miya set out the food while everyone took their seats at the table. Kusano took her seat on Minato's left and acted like she owned the seat, which was true, and Takami gave the smallest Sekirei a warm smile as she sat on her son's right. Kazehana and Tsukiumi nearly got into a fight over who would sit across from their Ashikabi, but a quick Hannya mask from Miya silenced them both and it was decided that neither would sit across from him.

"Is Uzume coming?" Minato asked as Miya sat down at the head of the table.

Miya shook her head in answer. "She said she was going to visit her Ashikabi today when I saw her. I gave her a box for her and her Ashikabi and sent her on her way. Besides," Miya directed to Takami, "I don't think another Ashikabi's Sekirei needs to hear about what's happening to Musubi."

"You're right," Takami agreed. "By the way," she asked, "is Matsu going to join us for lunch?"

A dangerous aura surrounded Miya and Minato and his Sekirei all started choking on their food as Takami's question registered and what it meant. M.B.I. knew where Matsu is.

"I'm afraid Number Two's location is confidential," Miya told the researcher as all three masks appeared behind her.

"Relax," Takami assured them all. "I figured it out when Matsu was registered as Minato's third Sekirei. And," she said seriously, "I don't care that she stole the Jinki. In my mind, the less of those in that madman's hands the better. I was actually grateful when I'd heard that she'd run off with one. I also doubt that Minaka really cares anymore either. He's too wrapped up in planning the next few stages in his game to even bother. Matsu's safely protected here, so you don't have to worry. I also think that the Sekirei of Wisdom's knowledge would be a good aid for our discussion."

Miya continued to stare Minato's mother down while nobody spoke or even moved for a few minutes. Eventually, Miya relented with a curt nod before she left to go retrieve Matsu from her hidden room. Minato and all of his Sekirei let out the breath they'd been holding as the landlady left. Miya returned a few minutes later with a visibly resigned Matsu behind her.

"So me being Winged showed M.B.I. where I was, huh?" the Sekirei of Wisdom said sadly as she sat across from her Ashikabi.

"No, it didn't," Takami revealed as Matsu began to brighten a bit. "I just pay attention to what's going on and I used a little logic from there. I'd always figured that, if you were going to run, then Miya and Takehito would've taken you in and gave you shelter from M.B.I.'s systems and satellites. Minato Winging you just confirmed it to me."

"Actually," Matsu corrected his mom, "it was more of me having him Wing me, not the other way around."

"Interesting," Takami murmured slowly.

"Yes," Miya said sweetly as a mask appeared. "It truly is interesting."

Matsu squeaked in fear for her being and then ducked her head in a docile fashion. "I'll be good Miya," the orange-haired Sekirei said softly.

"Good," the violet-haired woman returned as the mask disappeared.

"Now then," Takami spoke up. "No doubt you have a lot on your mind Minato. Ask and I'll do my best to answer your questions. But you have to understand that there are some things I can't reveal to anyone without proper clearance." She nodded towards Matsu as she added, "She could probably answer those ones."

"How long have you worked for M.B.I.?" Minato blurted the first thing in his mind.

Takami sighed as she set her chopsticks down. "From the beginning," she answered her son tiredly. "I was there when M.B.I. began all those years ago. While I told you and Yukari that I worked for a pharmaceutical company – and that wasn't a total lie – I did hide the truth from you both." Her hands tightened into fists as she continued, "I didn't tell you both the truth because Minaka had _sworn_ to me that you and your sister would be kept out of this nonsense. He couldn't even keep half of his promise. That bastard could very well cause me to lose both of my children because of his delusions and dreams."

Minato mulled over everything his mother had just told him and he came to a shocking conclusion. His grey eyes widened in fear as he thought, _No. Please no. Yukari can't be… But I need to make sure._ "Mom," he finally said with a serious edge. "Are you saying that Yukari is also an Ashikabi?"

A pained look flashed across Takami's face at her son's tone before she nodded once. "I'm surprised Matsu didn't tell you," the grey-haired mother said. "It was around the time this whole 'Veiled Sekirei' business started."

"Dost thou refer the coward whom has been leaving her defeated opponents before M.B.I. may appear to collect the Sekirei?" Tsukiumi asked.

Matsu nodded towards the blonde beauty. "That's exactly who she's referring to. Matter-of-fact," the orange-haired woman turned towards Takami, "I'm surprised anyone in M.B.I. cared enough to notice."

"I'm on the team that collects deactivated Sekirei," Minato's mom revealed sadly. "The least I can do after sending them out to fight each other is ensure they don't actually die when they're collected."

"You mean –" Minato shouted before Takami cut him off.

"Can't reveal," she told her child simply. "That's only known by me and Minaka. No one else is permitted access to what you're about to ask me Minato."

The Ashikabi sent a pleading look at Matsu and silently asked his smartest Sekirei. However, the bespectacled Sekirei gave him a sad look and simply shrugged in response. Minato's shoulders sagged as he agreed, "Fine."

"I'm really sorry I didn't tell you about Yukari being an Ashikabi Minato," Matsu told him sadly. "It's just… It wasn't my secret to tell. If you would've asked I swear I would've told you. But, just like she hasn't told you, I don't think Yukari knows about you being an Ashikabi either."

"It's true Minato," Takami tried to console his son – who'd suddenly felt very betrayed by his own Sekirei. "I'm pretty sure Yukari figured out how I work at M.B.I. a while ago and she hasn't even told me yet. I only know because of M.B.I.'s databases. If it's any consolation, she has a very powerful Sekirei: Number One-hundred-Seven."

"Shii-chan!" Kuu piped up.

"Yes, Kuu," Takami smiled. "Shiina is a very strong Sekirei, so Yukari is – for the most part – safe."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Minato whispered as his chest started to hurt.

"Minato," Matsu reached out to him, but he turned away from her. Tears began to pool in her eyes as her hand retreated back to her and she looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry," she choked out as she began to sob. "I-I wanted to tell you – I really did. It's just that I didn't want to worry you when I noticed _whose_ Ashikabi she was. I-I…" Matsu couldn't continue as she began to weep. The crying Sekirei then stood up from the table and ran from the room, face in hands as she wept.

As soon as Matsu had left the room, Minato's skull burned as he felt the burning glares of four women and a child on him.

"How could you make Matsu cry like that!?" Kazehana demanded. "Do you have _any _idea how hard it was to hide that from you!?"

"The slattern is correct Minato," Tsukiumi berated him further. "Every Sekirei loves their Ashikabi more than anything. The most difficult thing for one to do is to hide something from their bonded partner. I cannot _fathom_ how you would even _consider_ hurting Matsu that way."

"Minato," both Miya and Takami said slowly and with a dangerous aura around them.

"Onii-chan's being a meanie!" Kuu told him. "Ghost Glasses-chan is crying and Onii-chan made her cry! Didn't Onii-chan promise to not let any of his wives cry?"

The words of his smallest Sekirei hit the Ashikabi the hardest. _I did promise,_ he began to remember. _What kind of a man am I? I've failed the University entrance exam twice now, I'm not really physically fit or anything to look at, now I've made someone I care about cry without thinking about how Matsu was feeling, and now I've gone and broken such a simple promise. Why can't I do anything right?_ He continued to search himself as his eyes began to sting.

Miya let out an exhausted sigh. "I'll go check on her," the landlady and Matsu's protector over the years said as she got up to make sure Matsu wouldn't do anything rash.

"No."

Everyone froze at the hard tone to Minato's voice as he stood up from the table.

"I did this to her," he continued on. "It's my job to fix the mess I made. She needs to know how much she means to me, and I intend on letting her know."

"Is that so?" Miya stared him down and he didn't back down. "I will let you go," she relented, "but don't forget the rules of Izumo Inn." She then sat back down at the table while everyone else was staring at the young man in shock.

"I won't, Landlady-dono," he assured the woman. He then left the dining room and walked up the stairs to Matsu's hidden room.

As he approached the hidden door, he froze as he heard faint sobbing coming from the other side. Minato knocked on the door and he heard, "Go away."

"Matsu," her Ashikabi called through the hidden door. "Can I come in?"

He was met by silence for a moment before he heard the locks on the hidden door click and unlock. Minato pushed the door open and walked into Matsu's room that was lined with computers everywhere. The Ashikabi noticed Matsu sitting in the middle of the room, her glasses thrown across the room, with her knees pulled up to her face and softly crying into her knees.

Minato didn't say anything. He simply walked over and sat down next to his Sekirei. He crossed his legs and listened to Matsu's sobs, berating himself repeatedly for causing this.

"I'm sorry," Matsu hiccupped without looking up from her knees. "You're probably mad at me and want to yell now."

"Actually, I was never mad at you," Minato revealed to her. Matsu then looked up at him and he saw the hope in her eyes. Minato winced as he plowed onward, "I felt like you'd betrayed me." Matsu's orange eyes began to tear up again and Minato told her, "But I've never been angry with you Matsu.

"I'll admit that it hurt to find out you'd hidden such a secret from me, but then I realized how much it must've hurt _you_ to keep that from me. I know that you'd never willingly try to hurt me, Matsu. I was shocked and I acted inexcusable towards you – someone who decided I was her Destined One. I broke my promise to all of you when I made you cry, and I can't ever forgive myself for that. I know that I don't deserve it but," he asked as he wrapped Matsu in a comforting, loving embrace, "can you ever forgive me Matsu?"

Matsu's eyes were wide as tears began to well back up in her eyes. However, these weren't tears of sadness, but of joy.

She returned the hug as more tears fell, but for a different reason this time. "I forgive you," she choked out. "I love you, Mina-tan."

Minato couldn't help but smile as she returned to the familiar address. "And I love you too, Matsu.

Matsue extended her arms and her orange eyes locked with her Ashikabi's grey ones.

"My Ashikabi," she whispered as she leaned forward and their lips came closer. "Now and forever."

Their lips overlapped and orange wings of light extended from her back.

* * *

Minato and Matsu returned to the dining room after a few moments of nothing more than holding each other – Nothing more Miya! – in silence. Takami, his Sekirei, and Miya all noticed the visibly relaxed air around the two and each of them smiled as the Ashikabi and Sekirei returned to their respective seats.

"Well it seems you're quite the lady-killer, aren't you?" Takami teased her child with a smirk.

"W-What are you talking about mom?" Minato screamed in embarrassment and confusion.

"'Tis, unfortunately, an accurate summarization," Tsukiumi nodded sadly.

"You have no idea," Kazehana told her former rival with a dreamy look on her face.

Matsu sat there cackling while Kuu just looked confused. Minato felt chills go down his back as Miya's trio of masks appeared.

"That might be true," Miya began sweetly, "but I hope that you won't break the rules here at the Inn?"

"I'd never even dream of it!" he yelped.

"Good," Miya said sweetly as the masks disappeared again to wherever they were from. "Now can we get back to our previous discussion?"

"Sure," Takami agreed. She then asked her son, "Any other questions?"

"What's going on with Musubi?" the Ashikabi asked forcefully.

"Ah, the crux of the matter," Takami said. "Before that, though, you're gonna need a brief history lesson on Sekirei and the Disciplinary Squad."

"You mean those two we fought on the bridge?" he asked to clarify.

"Not really, no," the grey haired woman stated. "Numbers One-hundred-Four and Five are two of the Third Generation Disciplinary Squad. Karasuba's the current leader of it and she's the only person who's been a part of all three Generations. The previous two Squads were much more powerful and dangerous."

Minato felt a sense of dread build up in his stomach as his mother revealed _that_ bit of information. _Just what kind of monsters could be worse than those three?_

Takami then began to recite the history of the Disciplinary Squad. "As you could guess, there have been two previous Generations. Both of those Squads were created to help protect the Sekirei from enemies who tried to forcibly take the Sekirei and use them to their own ends. Whether it be for experimentation or otherwise.

"The First Generation was, by far, the most deadly. It consisted of the first five Sekirei awakened. Yes, Matsu and Kazehana were original members," she told her son, who was gawking at two of his Sekirei. "Those five single-handedly repelled an entire invading Army and Navy from a still-unknown country.

"While Matsu, Kazehana, Karasuba, and Mutsu were all a deadly enough force in their own rights; none of them could even hope to compare to the strength of Number One. She was so powerful that - and I watched this with my own eyes – the shockwaves from a single swing of her blade cleaved a battleship in two as if it were a knife through butter. I want you to try and _imagine_ such power Minato."

The young Ashikabi did, and what he pictured made him shiver. "That's…" he tried to say. "I don't really know how to react to that. If Number One was still alive, maybe she'd be able to put an end to the Sekirei Plan."

His mother's eyes flickered to the head of the table for an instant. "Yes," she agreed. "Maybe she could."

"What about the Second Generation?" Miya spoke up with a slight edge to her voice.

"The Second Generation, or the Light-and-Dark Duo, as they were called back then," Takami began, "was nearly as much a force of nature as the First Generation. Karasuba had – for some reason – found her power inadequate and had begun to train herself beyond the usual limits of a Sekirei. It's actually debated if the Second Generation could've become even _more_ powerful than the First had Yume not given up her life, and I'm inclined to agree that they would've.

"Yume, Sekirei Number Eight, was the head of the Second Generation Disciplinary Squad. Her title was the Sekirei of Fate because she was even more unique than usual for Sekirei. She'd possessed an natural ability of Total Empathy to such a level that she would've been able to look into a crowd of potential Ashikabi and point to any Sekirei's destined partner before either had begun to react to one another. Yume may've been the only person who could've predicted that you, Tsukiumi, would become my son's Sekirei."

Tsukiumi blushed slightly at that. "I admit," the blonde spoke up, "that I was not very receptive of becoming linked to an Ashikabi. But," she looked at Minato with love brimming in her eyes, "I am glad that I have been able to find you, Minato."

"Tsukiumi," her Ashikabi whispered.

"Oh, the love!" Kazehana cooed. "It's such a wonderful feeling!"

Takami cleared her throat and brought the attention back to her. "Yes, well… let's continue. Yume was truly unique amongst the Sekirei. Takehito – Miya's late husband – personally worked on each of the first ten Sekirei and he said that her make-up was similar to Number One's. He told us that his report on Yume was incomplete, but that he was able to theorize that – in theory – she could have become even more powerful than Number One should Yume continued to train."

"You're kidding," Matsu accused. "There's no way Yume could've become even more powerful than –"

"Matsu," Miya spoke evenly. "Let's let Takami continue."

"Thanks Miya," Minato's mother nodded in gratitude. "And I'm not kidding." She then reached into one of her lab-coat's pockets and pulled out a single thumb-drive. "Minaka won't miss these. Everything on that are Takehito's observations and theories on Yume. I had to pull a _lot_ of strings to ensure that Minaka doesn't hear of this, so _don't _lose that," she spoke firmly as she handed the drive to Matsu."

"I-I won't," Matsu replied, stunned as she cradled the drive closer to her chest.

"I'll admit," Kazehana spoke up, her voice absent any playfulness, "that I find your statement hard to believe, myself. I've fought against and beside Number One, and there's a reason that she was the Original. What you're implying is… unsettling to say the least."

"How couldst thou prove your implications?" Tsukiumi asked Takami.

In response, the grey-haired woman merely shrugged. "I have no way to prove what I've told you," she answered. "All I can do is say to read Takehito's reports and watch what's going to be happening soon enough."

"What do you mean mom?" Minato implored an explanation.

"As I told you earlier, Yume and Musubi are combining into a single being. That means –"

"That means," Matsu explained, "that all of Yume's strength, power, abilities, and potential are going to become Musubi's now. Right?"

"I don't really know for certain," Takami answered. "That's my theory though."

"You mean to tell me that the power I experienced two nights prior was –"

"Yume's," Miya answered before Tsukiumi could finish.

"That spike," Takami spoke, " was picked up by M.B.I.'s sensors two nights ago. Minaka was practically giddy when it was reported that it was a perfect match for Sekirei Number Eight's. He just kept going on about 'Gods' this and 'Fate' that all night long. I nearly pushed him off the rooftop, he was so annoying."

Minato blanched at the drab way his mother talked about killing the President, like it was an everyday occurrence.

"Now then," his mother continued on, "back to how this all relates back to Musubi. A number of years ago, one of the groups attacking where the Sekirei were hidden managed to kidnap two newly-awoken, but undeveloped, Sekirei. Yume and Karasuba were sent to retrieve the kidnapped Sekireis and 'dispose' of the group. The two Sekireis were Number Eighty-Seven, Kaho, and Number Eighty-Eight, Musubi."

The room descended into silence as those who'd not already known about this absorbed the new bit of information. Minato was absolutely beside himself in worry. _Why her?_ He asked whatever deities that existed.

"As you all can attest to," Takami said, "Musubi is still alive. However, it was very nearly not so.

"Yume and Karasuba arrived on the facility that was holding both of the captured Sekireis and they thoroughly destroyed the entire organization. They found Numbers Eighty-Seven and Eighty-Eight, and Kaho was found to be unharmed." Minato looked up in worry. "Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Musubi.

"Somehow, the kidnappers had come across Top Secret information about the Sekirei. The group had found out about the Tama," Takami revealed.

Each of Minato's Sekirei gasped at that revelation.

"How?" Kazehana asked.

The grey-haired woman shook her head. "We still don't know. The source was never discovered in the raid. The popular theory is that Minaka pissed off a researcher and they sold the information to get back at him."

"I could see that," Miya agreed.

"Umm… Excuse me," Minato said timidly. "But what's a Tama?"

"The Tama, or Sekirei Spirit," Matsu began to lecture her Ashikabi, "is the nucleus of a Sekirei's very being. It's what gives us our powers and acts as our life source. Without our Tama, a Sekirei ceases to function."

Minato's mood got – if even possible – worse as the feeling in his gut grew. _I've got a feeling I know what's gonna happen._

"It's as you think Minato," his mother said gently. "The organization had successfully removed Musubi's Tama and had destroyed it before Yume could rescue Musubi. This left Musubi, effectively, dead. After Yume and Karasuba had returned from their mission with the kidnapped girls, Yume had been absolutely distraught. She approached Takehito and I with a proposal a few days later, before Musubi was disposed of, and we both agreed to it." She took in a deep breath and revealed, "We implanted Yume's Tama into Musubi."

After another moment of silence, Tsukiumi spoke first. "If what thou hast stated is true, than 'tis no wonder I've yet to best Musubi. She possesses the powers of this Yume."

"Miya," Takami asked, "do you mind if I have a smoke?"

"Usually I would say no," Miya answered. "But because of the severity of our conversation, I'll allow it just this once."

"Thanks." Takami then pulled out a cigarette and her lighter from her coat pocket. She put the cancer-stick in her mouth, lit it, and then took a deep breath in. She removed the cigarette from her mouth and then blew out the smoke above everyone's heads and answered Tsukiumi's statement, "That wasn't – until recently – true. Even though we implanted Yume's Tama into her, Musubi never showed any sign of Yume's abilities. For all intents and purposes, it was as if we'd given her back her old Tama.

"We observed Musubi like hawks for years to see if what has happened would occur. Unfortunately, the results we kept on getting just continuously reconfirmed the same things over and over: that inserting Yume's Tama did nothing to augment or alter Musubi in the slightest. The only thing of Yume's influence in Musubi's life was the promise Yume had both Kaho and Musubi make to her: To last to the end and free the birds with broken wings."

"So that's where it came from," Minato realized.

Takami took another drag and blew out the smoke above them again. "Yes," she answered her child. "That's where it came from."

* * *

**A/N:** Well here's the second chapter. You get some insight into Yume's potential, as well as some more information about the past. Some of this is information from the Manga, but most of this you could've found out if you paid attention during the anime.

Also, Minato has now found out about Yukari being another Ashikabi _much_ sooner than he did in the manga. To be honest, that was one of my biggest peeves about Sekirei: how brother and sister were both who they were looking for and neither found out until the freaking boat battle that Kusano was Minato's Sekirei and Shiina was Yukari's. I mean, for Christ's sake, Minato was known as the Ashikabi of the North! Everyone knew the names of Higa of the East, Mikogami of the South, and Sanada of the West. But they expect us to believe that news of Minato of the North didn't spread and Yukari wouldn't have recognized her brother's name! That was one of the biggest holes in the entire story. Granted, Yukari had been kidnapped by Higa, so she wouldn't have been able to run to her brother's side until she got out, but she did escape! And you mean to say that Higa _never_ mentioned to her about her brother being a _very_ powerful Ashikabi! Unbelievable!

Now, even though I've said all of that, that doesn't mean that it isn't a good story. I just needed to rant a bit.

Now for your thoughts please. I'd greatly appreciate it. I'll have the third chapter - which is also the last planned introduction chapter - up tomorrow sometime. The next chapter I explore some other things, make a few reveals, and have an emotional Musubi/Minato moment. So everyone's favorite ditz will return to the story, so don't worry.

Reminder of current Sekirei of Minato: Musubi/Yume, Kusano, Matsu, Tsukiumi, and Kazehana.

On another note: I've noticed people like Akitsu and, for some reason, Karasuba. Unfortunately, Karasuba _has_ been winged by Natsuo at this point in time, so she can't be Winged while she has an Ashikabi. I've come up with a few ideas on how to bring in Akitsu, if I decide to do it, but they aren't very strong. So unless I can come up with a believable way to Wing the un-Wingable Ice Sekirei, I've reached an impasse. As much as I like the idea, I won't include it if I can't make it believable. I know how unbelievable Sekirei is, but even it has it's own - albeit crazy - logic to it.

Rant over. See you guys later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"So what now?" Kazehana asked no one in particular.

Takami rubbed the head of her cigarette on the heel of her shoe to put it out. She then stood up from the table, flicked the spent cigarette into the trash and said, "First, I need my son to describe how the bond between him and Musubi feels. There's no doubt in my mind that it will feel different now."

"What do you mean mom?" Minato felt like he'd been asking that a lot during this conversation.

"The bond between Ashikabi and Sekirei is unique Mina-tan," Matsu instructed him. "If the Ashikabi focuses on the link between them and their Sekirei, then they can _feel_ – for lack of a better word – the very essence of their Sekirei."

"It's basically like meditating," Takami told him. "I'll walk you through the steps. First, close your eyes and slow your breathing down; take deep, calming breaths." Minato did as his mother told him. "Next, I want you to picture Kuu-chan in your head. Not just her, but everything about her. Then you should be able to see the connection between the two of you and you'll be able to know all there is to know about Kusano."

Minato steadied his breathing and followed his mother's advice. He dove into his mind and began to practice his instructions. First, he pictured Kuu in his mind: her long blonde hair and orange dress on while she was in the garden behind the Inn and had a beautiful smile on her face as she spoke with the plants. Next, he tried to focus on everything that he knew about Kuu: She was kind, loyal, caring, didn't like fighting but wasn't afraid to protect Minato, adorable to a fault, and almost as affectionate and competitive as the rest of his Sekirei. But, try as he might, nothing materialized in his mind, regardless of how hard he tried.

His brows creased in frustration as the bond between he and Kuu continued to elude his ventures. He was about to give up and admit defeat, but a voice pierced the darkness around him.

"You can do it Onii-chan."

Kuu's words to him sparked something from deep within him, and then something appeared before him in the darkness. It looked like a green thread of yarn approaching him from the blackness, but Minato could feel the power coming from this string.

Minato cautiously reached out with his hand and poked his finger on the string. The instant his finger brushed the green line, a sharp sensation traveled all-throughout his very being and he quickly retracted his hand as if it had been burned. He looked at his finger and noticed that nothing had happened to his appendage.

It was then that any doubt of what this green string was left him; this was the connection between Kusano and him. This was what made him her Ashikabi and her his Sekirei. As soon as he realized that, he reached his hand back out, absent any fear, and wrapped his hand around the green line.

There really was no way to describe the sensations that were swimming through him as he held the connection in his grasp. The closest word he could think of to describe what it was, was how Matsu had. Minato could feel Kuu. Not just where she was and who she was, but everything that made up Kusano as both Sekirei Number One-hundred-Eight and as a person.

Minato crashed back to reality as his eyes opened and he let out a strangled gasp. He was immediately surrounded by all of his Sekirei present and each of them made absolutely certain that he was okay.

"I-I did it," he gasped out. The Ashikabi's eyes then found Kuu's green ones and he said, "I felt Kuu. There's really no other way to describe it. As soon as I grabbed the connection I felt everything that is you Kuu. I felt your fears, your insecurities, everything. That's really all I know how to describe."

Matsu and Kazehana both had a similar gleam in their eyes as Minato looked at his other three Sekirei. Tsukiumi had a red flush to her cheeks and suddenly found the wall to her left very interesting.

"That's as it should be," Takami told him. "Now I want you to do the same thing, but this time focus on your connection with Musubi."

Minato nodded to his mother and acquiesced to her request. He dove back into his mindscape and restarted the process he'd done in order to locate his bond with Kuu – but for Musubi instead. Only this time, what he experienced shocked him back out of his mind as he desperately searched for air.

"Minato!" Tsukiumi yelled in concern. The blonde, Kazehana, and Matsu were all standing over him while Kuu was sitting on his chest. Each of them were looking at him with concern present in their eyes.

"What happened?" he asked with a groan. He suddenly felt a pounding in his head as he realized that he was now lying on the floor.

"You collapsed," Matsu informed him.

"Are you okay love?" Kazehana cooed to him. "Does Onee-chan need to comfort you and make the pain go away?"

Immediately a Hannya mask appeared over all of them and Miya's voice was laced with that dangerous sweetness. "Ara, ara. Did falling make you forget the rules Minato-kun?"

"No!" he yelped in panic. "I swear I wasn't going to do anything!"

"How about you then Kazehana?" Miya's voice didn't change at all.

Kazehana began to sweat as she saw a second mask appear. "N-No. I didn't forget Miya."

Takami's laughter brought them all away from the usual act as each of them looked at Minato's mother. "Oh that's just great," she said while wiping away a tear. "But can we please get back to what we need to talk about before you guys continue with your comedy routine?"

"Of course," Miya agreed and her masks disappeared once more. "I'm also curious as to what happened."

Kuu wrapped herself on Minato's chest before he could sit back up and Tsukiumi bristled.

"Conniving little brat!" the older blonde yelled. "Using this opportunity to get closer to Minato is unfair!"

Kuu merely turned her head and gave the other blonde an evil smile that gleamed in the sunlight.

Tsukiumi's hair began to rise as her power rose to the surface as her anger got the better of her. However, a few ladle-smacks on the head – all of which led to lumps – calmed her back down. The Water Sekirei returned to her seat while grumbling about opportunities missed and opportunistic little brats who were too young for this kind of thing.

Minato laughed awkwardly as he sat up with Kuu still clinging to him, feeling just a little uncomfortable.

"So what did you feel Minato?" Takami asked her son seriously.

"I didn't get to grab the connection this time," he answered to everyone with a resigned expression on his face. "I did manage to see the connection with Musubi and me, and what I saw was shocking, to say the least."

"What didst thou see husband?"

"Well," he began as he laid his hand on top of Kuu's head – which elicited a pleased purr from the Sekirei sitting on his lap. "The connection between Kuu and I didn't look anything like the one between Musubi and me. Kuu's bond looked like a simple piece of green yarn connecting the two of us together."

"That sounds about right," his mother interjected before he could continue. "The bond is a representation of the connection between Sekirei and Ashikabi and is a reflection of its owners' collective strength. The string should end up getting larger the more Kusano develops and the older she gets. I'd bet that your connections with any of your other Sekireis will be larger and look different as well.

"Because it was your first time looking for the bond, it showed itself in a way that would immediately tell you what it was. Most of the bonds we've studied first appeared to the Ashikabi in a way similar to what you've described Minato. However, the more familiar with actively searching for the bond an Ashikabi would get, the more its appearance morphed into an image that represented the Sekirei's abilities.

"For instance, your bond with Tsukiumi could very well manifest itself in your mind as a river that flowed both into and out-of both of you simultaneously. Matsu's bond could be represented by a large tome with your's and her's pictures on the cover. Kusano's will, most likely, become some kind of plant with you and Kuu serving as its roots."

"And my bond with him?" Kazehana asked his mom. "What do you think our _connection_ would show itself as?"

"Probably some kind of cloud."

Kazehana pouted at the flat answer. "How mean!" she wailed. "Everyone else got some kind of poetic connection and I only get a cloud!"

Takami merely shrugged, but Minato was certain that he saw the corners of her mouth twitch. "I don't really know for certain," she answered. "That's just my theories and guesswork. Now then," the mother directed to her child, "what did you see Minato?"

"It was… unique," he managed to answer, unable to say anything else. At the look everyone was giving him he shouted, "It's hard to explain, alright!?" He crossed his arms over his chest and tried to think of a way to describe just what he saw. "It… It was like I was looking at two beams of light that both come from the same place and both ended at me. One of them was a bright pink; the other was a slightly darker shade of pink.

"However, the connections were unstable," he revealed to everyone, leading to a sharp intake of breath from all of his Sekirei. "They were shaky, unfocused, and hazy. The closer I got to them at first, the further they retreated from me, almost as if they were scared of me.

"But eventually I was able to get close enough to feel some of what the bond was exuding. It turns out that they weren't scared _of_ me, but _for_ me. The two beams of light were frightened – terrified even – of possibly hurting me for some reason. I think," he directed to Tsukiumi, "that Musubi, Yume – whoever it really is – remembers what happened to you Tsukiumi."

Tsukiumi's entire body froze as she relived that harrowing experience. "'Twas a terrifying moment," she answered her Ashikabi.

Minato nodded to his older blonde Sekirei. "It was," he agreed. He then spoke to everyone again and continued, "The closer I got, the further down the beams of light I was able to look. I noticed that, about halfway to Musubi, the two beams had combined into a single, solid beam of light that shone brighter than the sun. It was when my finger brushed against the lighter of the two beams that I was forced away and woke up on the floor."

Everyone in the room was silent as each of them took in what he'd just told them all. Takami and Matsu were sorting through the information that Minato had provided and the wheels were turning in their heads, forming possible theories.

"I think I know what you saw's meaning," Takami finally told her son after a few moments had passed.

"You too?" Matsu asked. Takami merely answered with a grim nod.

"What could it mean?" the young man pleaded.

"There is two possibilities of what you've just told us meaning," Takami started as Matsu picked it up from there.

"One," the bespectacled Sekirei said while raising her finger. "The less-likely, but more likeable case: That, somehow, Yume's Tama had completely merged with Musubi's body, and Yume appearing on the bridge fractured the connection between you and Musubi and the bond is now trying to repair itself. But there are a few problems with this theory."

"Like how Yume appeared in the first place," Takami stole the explanation back from Matsu. "If her Tama had completely merged with its new host then Yume should have just _disappeared_ – for lack of a better word."

"Which means that Yume's spirit wouldn't have even existed anymore," Matsu finished. "If that were true, then Yume couldn't have reappeared because she wouldn't exist."

"But why did you say that this was the more _likeable_ theory if it's not the likely one?" Minato asked the two temporary professors.

Matsu and Takami shared a look before the Sekirei said, "Because if this were the true theory then that'd mean that it was a guarantee that Musubi will still be Musubi when the bond fixes itself."

Minato's and all of his other Sekirei's eyes widened in shock. "You mean –" Minato started.

"– that Musubi may not retain herself if what you've just said is true?" Tsukiumi finished.

"Yes," Minato's mother revealed sadly. "If the first theory isn't the right one, then the Musubi you all know may not even come back when she wakes up." She put a comforting hand on her stunned son's shoulders and said, "I'm sorry."

"What about the second theory?" Kazehana piped up before the atmosphere could get any worse.

"The second theory is the more likely, but less-likeable," Matsu answered to everyone.

"This one operates under the assumption that Yume's Tama didn't completely merge with Musubi, and that Yume's spirit still existed after the transplant," Takami explained. "The two beams would mean that, through Musubi being Winged by Minato, Yume also received a similar bond at the same time."

"Minato said that the bonds were unfocused and hazy," the Sekirei of Wisdom explained further, "yet where they met the beam was solid, focused, and bright. If we follow this theory –"

"– then the bonds between Minato with both Musubi and Yume are becoming one," Takami finished as Matsu glared at her. "This theory is the most likely because it allows for the existence of Yume's spirit to emerge, like it did, as well as permit the possibility of Yume and Musubi's combining – which is what all of M.B.I.'s instruments have been picking up.

"Unfortunately," the grey-haired researcher continued, "this could also mean that the Musubi you've all known may not come back as she was. Because this means that everything that was Yume – her strength, memories, abilities, and personality – will all merge with Musubi's. The results will be unpredictable, but there is a very real chance that Musubi will be changed when she wakes back up."

Minato was stunned, shocked, as well as many other similar words all at once as his mind processed what he'd just been told. He didn't want to believe it. He wanted nothing more than to look up at his mother and have her say this was all just some joke. Some kind of cruel, sick joke that really didn't meant that he'd end up losing Musubi a second time.

His eyes looked up into his mother's own grey pair, searching for something – anything. But he only saw sadness and understanding. He looked over to Matsu; she'd tell him the truth. Matsu would tell him this was all some kind of ruse that they'd all planned out beforehand and then Musubi would come down the stairs – still her old self – and say "Gotcha!"

Minato looked over at his most intelligent Sekirei, but Matsu couldn't look him in the eye. She just fidgeted nervously while under his gaze and he saw a single tear fall from her right eye. As soon as he saw that salty drop fall from her face, Minato knew that this was no joke.

This was real. All of it. He was about to lose Musubi again, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He could only sit there and watch as the first woman he'd ever truly loved just disappeared right in front of him, again. Minato had never felt so useless, so utterly worthless.

"It's not fair," he whispered as his body shook and he felt his eyes begin to sting.

"Onii-chan?" Kuu called to him softly.

"Minato?" Tsukiumi did the same as Kuu.

"My love?" Kazehana said gently.

"It's not fair!" he screamed as he felt hot streaks on his cheeks. "I just – we just got her back! And now you're saying we're gonna lose her again!? What about us!? Don't we get a say in this!? You mean to tell us that the Musubi who'd never lost a Shopping-Challenge, the Musubi who swore she'd always be there for everyone, is just gonna disappear!?

"The same Musubi who showed me Sekirei, told me about this whole crazy Sekirei Plan, and made me her Ashikabi is gonna go away just like that!? The Musubi who'd slept in my apartment and gotten me kicked out by the landlord, the same Musubi who assured Haruka and Kuno that we'd help them escape, the same Musubi who'd worked so hard to see me smile and laugh; you're saying I'll never see her again!? Fuck that!"

"Minato," his mother began," I know it hurts –"

"You've _no idea_ mom!" he screamed at her. "You're saying that the person I've cared about, a person I _love_ is just going to stop existing, and that there's nothing I can do to stop it! Why?" he began to plead as his voice steadily lost its volume. "What about me?" he started to sob. "I'm her Ashikabi, aren't I? Her destined one. I think I should get in say in whether this happens or not. What about my feelings? It's just not fair."

"Minato," Takami said softly.

"I… I need to be alone for a bit," he told everyone as he stood up and then left the room to presumably be alone for awhile.

None of his Sekirei got up to follow him out, each were still stunned stiff at how much anger he had just shown. But not only did they feel the anger their Ashikabi had felt, but the sheer _power_ he'd just let out. Minato had just exuded so much power while in his anger that it had saturated the very air around them and left the three older members of his Sekirei feeling _very_ hot and bothered.

"I've… never seen him like that," Takami finally broke the silence. "I know that he and Musubi were close but…"

"Your son is a very caring young man Takami," Miya finally spoke again. "He'd have acted the same for any of his Sekirei, and he reminds me of Takehito in that. He's also still very emotional from feeling so powerless from the other night on the bridge, and now he's just been told that he's about to lose someone he's just had returned to him. Anyone would act that way."

"I know that," Minato's mother sighed. "But I never thought it would hit him that hard. I know that even _you_ felt his power there Miya."

Miya simply nodded to the grey-haired woman. "I did, and I'm not really all that surprised. When I first met your son those months ago I could feel his incredibly high, latent potential. It was why I wasn't surprised when he Winged Kuu-chan, Matsu, Tsukiumi, and even Kazehana. I also think another Single Number is beginning to react to him."

"You're kidding me," Takami replied, aghast at those implications. "You mean to say that _they're_ reacting to my son?"

The violet haired woman nodded once more in response. "I'm fairly certain of it," she confirmed.

Tsukiumi then stood up, her face still red, and said, "I must adjourn for a time. 'Tis a good time to hone my skills."

"Kuu wants to train too!" the smallest Sekirei piped up.

"That's fine," Miya agreed. "Take care not to hurt her, okay Tsukiumi?" Miya said as a mask appeared.

"R-Right," Tsukiumi faltered. "Kusano won't be harmed." She then collected her fellow blonde Sekirei and retreated from the dining room.

Matsu started cackling again as a perverse gleam appeared in her eyes. "Now _that_ was an experience," the perverted Sekirei spoke up.

"Agreed," Kazehana said dreamily as she pulled out a bottle of sake and took a swig. "You can come in now," she said to seemingly nobody. "They're all gone now."

The other door – the one leading into the kitchen – opened and there was Kagari, dressed in his Homura clothing with his mask pulled down, leaning against the wall.

"Well?" Takami asked him. "Is Miya telling the truth?"

A pained look crossed the Guardian's face before he nodded. "It started when they came back from the bridge," Kagari told them. "For some reason, it's been accelerated these last few days. My body is _reacting_, and I don't want it to. I like being a man."

* * *

Minato wandered the halls of Izumo Inn with a contemplative face and without thinking in the least on wherever his feet took him.

"Of course," he mumbled aloud with exasperation when he noticed just _where_ his feet had taken him to. He was at the room that Musubi had been holed up in for the last few days, away from everyone else for fear of her power. He was about to turn around and leave to go somewhere, _anywhere_, else and get away from the person he just couldn't look at right now, but he stilled when he heard a soft voice come from the room.

"Is that you, Minato-sama?"

The Ashikabi felt his heart lurch painfully as he heard _her_ voice. That sweet voice of the woman who'd given him a reason to live, a _true_ reason to live. The first woman he loved, as well as the one whom he loved the most. Musubi.

"Yeah," he answered her softly through the door. "It's me Musubi. I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll let you get back to resting."

"Please stay," Musubi seemed to plead with him. "Musubi's scared, and will really like her Destined One to be near her."

Minato's eyes began to sting again when she called him that. "Sure," he just couldn't deny her as he wiped his watery eyes on his sleeve. He then opened the door into the room and took in his Sekirei's form still lying beneath her bed-sheets on her lone futon. The Ashikabi walked over to his Sekirei's side and knelt next to her. "You look terrible, you know that?" he attempted to smile as he took in her unnaturally pale face.

"I can promise you that I feel even worse," she chuckled back without any humor.

"Not possible," he tried to cheer her up. "You just wait. After a few more days you'll be back to your old self and be right back to winning all the Shopping-Challenges again. Kazehana's won 'em all in your absence, you know? I guess Tsukiumi just can't seem to catch a break, huh?"

The both let out chuckles that were obviously absent their usual playfulness, and the attempt to lighten the mood diffused.

"You don't need to act strong for me, Minato," Musubi told him. Minato's eyes widened as she continued, "I've known what has been happening these last few days, and I'm really scared. But… it's not me being afraid of losing myself. I've been steadily gaining all of Yume's memories and powers these past few days, and it terrifies me.

"Yume and Musubi are both very similar in our personalities, so I won't lose myself like you're afraid of. Yes, I can feel your fear from our bond, Minato," she told him when she saw his shocked expression. "It's one of Yume's abilities," she told him with a smile. "Now I can always know how my Ashikabi is feeling," she finished with a bright expression.

"Musubi," he choked out as he felt tears fall from his face again.

"I'll be fine Minato," she told him reassuringly. "I'll be a little bit different, have a little more power, and know a few things that I used to not know. But remember this: You are my Ashikabi; now and forever." Her unnaturally cold hand came from beneath her covers, wiped the tears away from his eyes, and softly cupped his left cheek. "That means that, regardless of whatever will happen now, you will always be my Destined One. I will always love you – and only you – until we're both in the Heavens with the Gods, and even still then. I will still be Musubi, _your_ Musubi."

"Then… Then what are you scared of?" he asked her as her hand fell from his face and retreated beneath the sheets again.

A pained look shown on her face as she turned her head and stared at the ceiling. "Not being able to control my power," she revealed softly. "Yume's power is too great for me. I've had to fight it for control ever since that first night. Because if I hadn't…" she trailed off as a single tear fell from her left eye.

Minato reached his hand under the covers and wrapped her sweaty, clammy hand with his and gave her a comforting squeeze. "You can do it," her Ashikabi told her with every confidence. "Musubi's strong, the strongest even! She'd never lose to anything."

"But Musubi _did_ lose," she answered sadly. "And Yume had to save her, just like all those years ago."

"And now Musubi's getting Yume's powers," he comforted her. "Musubi saved my life with her determination – she refused to give up, and Yume woke up because of it. Musubi only needs her determination to win this fight."

Musubi turned her head back towards him and she gave him a sweet smile. "You're not wrong, but it was Minato's feelings for Musubi that woke Yume up."

"Now you're just making things up," he quipped at her playfully. The two of them gave each other a half-hearted laugh at their antics before returning to the current situation.

"Musubi's confused now," the beautiful woman said from the bed.

"About what?"

"Everything," she told her Ashikabi flatly. "Yume remembers things that Musubi had no idea about."

"Like what?"

"Like how the Landlady's husband was," she answered. Musubi smiled at him as she said, "Minato's a lot like him. Minato's loving, caring, and wants to keep everyone he cares about safe. Just like Takehito was.

"Or about what it was that Matsu stole from M.B.I. and ran away with."

"What was it?" he asked her curiously.

"Something that is _very_ dangerous," she revealed darkly. Musubi then brightened as she continued, "But Musubi wants to enjoy her time with her Ashikabi now, so let's talk about Yume after Musubi's not sick anymore!"

"Yeah," Minato agreed. As he sat there and stared into his first Sekirei's brown eyes Minato couldn't help but hope, _Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought._

* * *

Uzume was feeling good. If she was being completely honest with herself though, the last time she'd felt happy – _truly_ happy – was when Chiho had Winged her and they'd became bonded partners. The Sekirei of Veils had felt amazing, like she could take on the world for her Ashikabi and stand at the top.

But then Higa Izumi had appeared in her life and ruined it all.

That bastard had shattered any happiness she'd hoped to have. Words alone couldn't describe how much she _loathed_ that manipulative dog. He'd lost any and all humanity in her eyes the second that her Ashikabi's life had been threatened.

It had never been explicit – only veiled threats and seemingly innocent questions that she'd been asked, but Higa made his message clear every time his assistant showed up: Follow my orders or your Ashikabi dies. Uzume couldn't let that happen, regardless of the consequences.

Higa owned the hospital treating Chiho, and he made certain to drive home that fact at every possible opportunity. The second message was never said aloud – not by anyone – and it was a terrible fact. Higa knew it, and so did Uzume: He _owned _her as long as Chiho was in his grasp.

Uzume had searched, she'd really tried to find another hospital – it didn't matter where it was – that could give Chiho her treatment, but the simple fact of the matter was that there wasn't one. And if Higa even sniffed her contacting the organization he despised – M.B.I. – for help then Chiho's life was forfeit.

Uzume was the cornered mouse and Higa was the white tiger watching her intently. It annoyed and disgusted her to no end, but she couldn't tell him no. Because if she even tried…

The brown-haired woman shook her head of such morbid thoughts. It bothered her how much she'd been thinking about Chiho dying these past two days. If anything, she should be thinking only about how lucky she was to be under the same sky as Chiho.

Chiho. She was so kind and considerate, even though the sickly girl had no reason to be. It didn't matter to her that she was the one in constant pain; Chiho only wanted Uzume to be happy. And all Uzume needed to be happy was to be with Chiho without Higa hanging the axe over Chiho's head.

"Hey Uzume," Chiho called from her hospital bed.

"Yeah Chiho?" she answered from the chair next to her Ashikabi.

"The food was delicious," the Ashikabi smiled at her Sekirei.

"I'll be sure to tell Miya you thought so," Uzume answered brightly. That smile was why Uzume had made all of those costumes and had agreed to work for Higa.

"I appreciate it. What's been happening lately?"

"Oh, the usual," Uzume drawled with a dramatic wave of her hand. "Miya's 'masking' every few minutes now and scaring all the tenants shitless every time."

"Even you?" Chiho quipped.

"Hey!" the brown-haired woman shouted indignantly as Chiho broke into a fit of giggles. "She really terrifying!" Uzume smiled faintly as she watched her Ashikabi keep on giggling.

"What's wrong Uzume?" the Ashikabi asked with concern present in her voice.

"Nothing," she sighed. "I'm just happy to be with you."

"You know you can't hide anything from me," Chiho reminded her. "I'm your Ashikabi, and it doesn't help that you're a terrible liar."

"Am not!" she defended. Uzume then blinked as she realized that she'd just indirectly admitted to lying to Chiho.

The sick girl didn't press the Sekirei on the matter any further as she just laid back down on her hospital mattress.

"Uzume?" Chiho said quietly.

"Yeah, Chiho?"

"What'll happen to you when I die?"

"Don't you dare think like that!" Uzume screeched in anger as she forcibly stood up from her chair. She then grabbed her Ashikabi's skeletal hand with her own and said, "I _will_ get you through this. I swear it."

"Uzume," Chiho replied comfortingly. "Everybody dies." Uzume's eyes began to tear up, but her Ashikabi continued before the Sekirei could interject. "I've come to grips with it. One day, everyone will pass on from this life.

"I don't want to die," she whispered, "but I know I can't avoid it for long. Did you know about that power surge the other night?" At Uzume's nod she continued, "The doctors told me that next morning that it messed with my Life Support machines and an entire night passed with my disease running unchecked."

"You can't mean…" Uzume cried. "No!" she screamed with a shake of her head. "I won't believe it! Why didn't you tell me?" she whimpered.

"Because I could feel that something was different in you," the sickly Ashikabi answered her. "I don't know what it is, but something's changed _inside_ you Uzume, and I felt it. You're still the same Uzume I love though," she comforted her Sekirei.

"But… you haven't gotten to see the oceans yet," Uzume sobbed. "We were going to climb the mountains together. We were going to touch the clouds, see the world beyond the hospital together. How can you just die and leave me like that!?" she shouted in fear.

"I don't want to go on without you," Chiho said softly as one of her hands cupped Uzume's wet cheek. "But this is beyond our control."

"I… I don't know what'll happen," the brown haired Sekirei choked out in answer to her Ashikabi's earlier question. "The… The man who adjusted me told me that I was made unique, kind of like Yume and Miya. He said," she gulped, "that I might not deactivate if I… if I ever lost my Ashikabi. He told me that he didn't want any of us to live in grief if we lost our loved ones."

"He sounds like a wonderful person," the younger girl smiled at her Sekirei.

"He was," she responded. "He gave his life to save all of the Sekirei."

"He was so noble to do that."

Uzume began to sniffle again and she fought hard to hold back the building tears.

Chiho shakily sat up in her bed and both of her frail hands rested on Uzume's tear-stained cheeks. "Then he and I think the same way," she told her.

"What-What do you mean Chiho?"

"When I die, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything," Uzume said with conviction. Whatever it was her Ashikabi desired, she'd give it to her.

"If you don't deactivate, then I want you to promise me," Chiho requested, "to live for the both of us. I've only ever wanted you to be happy, Uzume. I've never cared about the Sekirei Plan or anything like that. All I've ever wanted is to see you smile and be happy, and you've not been happy for so long. Find another person to love, Uzume. Someone who won't leave you alone, like I am about to."

"But you're my Ashikabi!" Uzume protested. "I _can't_ love anyone but you!"

"Who was that person you told me about yesterday," Chiho mused with amusement in her voice. "Oh yes. You said her name was Kazehana, wasn't it?" Uzume's eyes widened as she realized Chiho had just disproven her. "You told me that Kazehana had reacted and fallen in love with someone a long time ago, but her first Ashikabi turned her down. Yet, now she's fallen in love with someone else, and isn't she a Sekirei as well?"

"But… But," Uzume tried to formulate some kind of response to that. "But Kazehana was never Winged before!" she yelled a little too loudly in protest.

"And didn't the person who'd adjusted you say you'd survive losing your Ashikabi?" Chiho shot back at her. "Couldn't that also mean that you can be Winged again?"

Uzume had no reply to that. Her Ashikabi had just completely dismantled her entire argument with barely any effort at all. _Now that I think about it,_ she thought. _Minato has been looking cuter than usual these past few days._ Uzume's eyes widened as she realized what had been happening to her.

"You've noticed it too, huh?" Chiho asked gently.

"You knew." It wasn't a question.

"Ever since I woke up two days ago," the sickly Ashikabi answered the non-question sadly. "I don't know why, and I can tell you don't either. But this is what's happening, and we can't stop it. All we can do is make the best of what's gonna happen."

"But… I don't wanna lose you Chiho," Uzume began to sob again as the dam holding back her tears began to chip away.

"And I don't want to leave you, Uzume," Chiho whispered softly. "I'm your Ashikabi, and I feel terrible that I'm leaving you alone. So will you promise me to live?"

"Chiho. I –"

"Promise me," Chiho said sternly. "I could never forgive myself for leaving you if all you did was grieve for me when there's nothing that could've been done and you forget about your own happiness. This is my last request as your Ashikabi. I will wait for you with the Gods, I promise you. Now _please_ swear to me that you'll keep on living your life."

"I… I…" Uzume just couldn't get the words out.

"Promise me," Chiho pleaded in a whisper as Uzume saw tears form at the edge of her Ashikabi's eyes.

Uzume's eyes widened in shock as she realized how _hard_ it must be for Chiho to do this. To be strong when she knows her fate is sealed and there's nothing that can be done. To comfort her loved one when she was the one who needed comforting. To face down her end and accept it with courage. To be able to keep Uzume from losing herself and only desiring her Sekirei's happiness since she knows she's going to die.

"I promise you," Uzume swore with conviction as she clasped one of her Ashikabi's hands with both of her own. Chiho needed her to be strong, and she wouldn't let her down. "I swear to you that I'll keep on living, for both our sakes. I'll visit the oceans, climb the mountains, and touch the clouds for the both of us. And," she added quietly, "I will find another person who can make me happy. But you will always be my Ashikabi," Uzume told her sternly. The Sekirei of Veils then took her Ashikabi's lips with her own as pure white wings of light extended from her back. "Now and forever," she finished as their lips parted, and for the first time in so long; Uzume felt happy again.

"Now and forever," Chiho repeated. She then took in a deep breath and asked, "Can you get me a drink? All this serious talk is really draining."

Uzume chuckled as the Chiho she loved came back to her. "Sure." She stood up and asked, "Lemonade like always?"

"Nope," Chiho shook her head. "Since I'm gonna die anyways, I want to have a Coke first. I wanna at least try it before I go."

Uzume's smile faltered a bit before she left the room with a nod. She walked down the hall to the vending machines and grabbed two Cokes before beginning to walk back to Chiho's room.

"Number Ninety-Five escaped."

Uzume froze as the smooth voice of Higa's personal messenger boy, Kakizaki, reached her ears.

"You failed in your mission," he reiterated. "And while Higa-sama is displeased, he acknowledges that it was beyond your control. To make up for this… _transgression_ you have another target. One who is vulnerable at the moment. I also believe that you know –"

He was cut off as a white veil pierced the wall by his head and a thin line of blood began to drip down his face.

"No," Uzume stated icily. "I'm not Higa's dog any more. I've done everything that _bastard_ has ordered for Chiho's sake, and I just found out that it was all in vain. I'm not doing anything for him anymore." A piece of cloth wrapped around the picture Kakizaki had been carrying with him and brought it to her face. Uzume scoffed and then threw the photo away. "Good luck with that one," she said sarcastically. "Because I'm not even sure Karasuba could beat her if my guess is right."

She then turned and left a stunned Kakizaki standing there, staring at the picture of the brown-haired girl that was Sekirei Number Eighty-Eight.

"Oh," Uzume added almost as an afterthought. "And tell Higa that if I _ever_ see his ugly mug, I'll wipe that arrogant look off his face." White veils began to swirl around her as Sekirei Number Ten's anger boiled to the surface. "Permanently."

* * *

**A/N: **And there we have it, the last introductory chapter in the story. There were a few reveals, as well as some setting things up, so I hope you liked it.

You all got your first look at Yusubi (I shall refer to her during the course of this Author's Note so that you all know that is the combined form of Yume and Musubi, but in the story she shall always remain Musubi). How did you like it. The subtle changes were there, and she knows it. Before you all think it: No, Musubi will not suffer from some kind of split-personality. Yusubi will be the combination of both Yume and Musubi and will be her own person with her own - albeit similar to Musubi and Yume's - personality. For one, she has a little more intelligence, and I hope I showed it in how she was able to help calm Minato down. She said just what he needed to hear. Now then, Yusubi was referring to Musubi and Yume as if they were separate people because they were. She was acting as Musubi while remembering Yume's experiences, so she was referring to them that way. Again, she won't be the same Musubi, but Yusubi will be similar to her - just not as ditzy.

Now for Uzume. I'm pretty sure that all of you will find that one difficult to believe, but I don't think it hard to with what we do know about Takehito. I think that he - knowing how he wasn't an Ashikabi himself - wouldn't have wanted anyone to live in grief and mourning should they lose their loved ones. Even though the Sekirei Plan is different than it was before he gave his life in the Jinki incident which led to Miya becoming neutral in the whole thing, I doubt he didn't have an inkling about what that crazy Minaka was planning. So it wouldn't surprise me if he planned for just in case someone targeted Ashikabi's specifically and allowed the Sekireis he worked on to keep on living and find love again, like Kazehana did. Because when the Sekirei Plan would end, all of the deactivated Sekireis would - most likely - be reactivated and the ones who'd lost their Ashikabi's would be distraught and unwilling to live. I don't think that Miya's husband would've wanted that at all, and so he did what he could to ensure it wouldn't.

Yes, it was Yume's power spike that messed with Chiho's machines, and it hurt to do that to the poor girl. I'm not as heartless as I seemed while writing that scene. I may like Uzume as Minato's Sekirei, but I hate to see someone in pain like I just made Uzume. I may be the gamemaster in this case, like Minaka, but that doesn't mean I don't feel like the pieces in the game. My heart was in constant pain while writing it. Uzume will resent Yusubi for a while, as expected, but that adds more to the story as a whole in the long run. Also, why the hospital didn't immediately notice the machines go haywire: Everything in the hospital did. And yes, Yusubi will be greatly saddened when Uzume tells her what happened. So not only Chiho was affected, _every_ patient in the hospital was.

Also, I think I've come up with a way to incorporate Akitsu, so I'll bounce the idea off my beta to test it before I give it the green light. I'll give you a hint: Minato + Jinki + Miya + Takehito + Yume's Powers =? I'll let you think on that for a bit. It won't be for awhile, and I'm pretty sure I know when it'll occur as well, so just sit back and enjoy the ride for a bit.

Also, seeing as how I used to say this a lot early on in the CG story, I'll say it here: Share the story with people you know if you liked it! The more reviews, favs, and follows I get on the story, the more motivated I will be to continued with it. I've gotten a _lot_ on _Once More, with Feeling_, and I'm almost over-eager to return to it, but I can't because I've got to take care of my other children for the moment. Oh, if you haven't yet, please check out my other stories (more will be up soon) if you don't mind. I'd love to hear your thoughts on them all, and I've only gotten better as a writer through the critique in the reviews. CG was my launch-board, and I love hearing people's thoughts on my first idea.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! See ya later guys! I'll be posting my other stories over the course of the next few days.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Minato had spent close to five hours just sitting next to Musubi and just… talking. They'd talked about everything: From when she'd fallen from the sky and landed on top of him to that night on the bridge which now felt years ago. She'd tried to explain to him what kind of powers Yume's merging would give her, and what little Minato had been able to understand impressed the Ashikabi greatly.

They relived it all: Them becoming a bonded pair, finding out about Seo and the Lightning Twins and how Kuu joined them, the complicated – and violent – reaction of Tsukiumi to him, the decision to help Haruka and Kuno escape, Yume saving them that night, and Kazehana then kissing him. They spent those hours just talking, laughing, and crying together as their memories kept on resurfacing.

Minato left the room feeling better about everything going on. During their talk he'd noticed the small changes in how she'd talked and acted. The Musubi that he'd first met that day so long ago had still been there, but he could tell the differences in his Sekirei.

It was in the way she spoke with him. Her vocabulary wasn't on the level of a Primary School student anymore; she now was able to communicate like a second-year University student. She wasn't completely tone-deaf anymore – she'd finally realized why he'd always blushed whenever they were in a 'compromising position' and had apologized profusely for being so oblivious before, but he'd waved off her concerns and told her that it was okay; the teenager inside the Ashikabi kept on whispering in his mind that he hadn't really minded that much. Musubi had then blushed and asked him if he wanted to do _more_, and – for some reason – he _felt_ a Hannya mask appear, even though Miya hadn't been present, and gently refused for fear of his life.

This new Musubi, now that he'd been able to think on it and spend some time with her, wasn't really _that_ different though. She may not be oblivious anymore, or even that much of a child anymore, but she was still Musubi. He just knew it.

It was in how she looked at him with those brown eyes, brimming with her love for her Ashikabi. It was in her voice, still childish even if she no longer was herself. It was in how their bond had felt when she'd helped him to touch it the second time that he'd tried.

When Minato had told her about his first excursion into his mindscape and the discovery of the state of their bond Musubi had been elated, and then saddened when he told her about his forced exit. She then requested that he try it again and reassured him that nothing bad would happen to him if he touched their bond again. Hesitantly, the young Ashikabi closed his eyes and dove back into his mind in search for his bond with Musubi and – it turned out his mother had been right – Yume.

This time though, the two hazy beams of light never attempted to run from him or to delay his approach at all. They actually seemed to invite him closer to them and wanted him present. He noticed as he neared the bonds that the two beams were now combined about three-quarters of the way between him and Musubi and that the single, combined beam was even larger and brighter than the last time.

He decided to follow Musubi's advice and simply bypassed the two flickering beams while making his way towards the combined beam of light. His hand wasn't large enough to wrap around the combined beam, so he simply laid his palm on it. As soon as his hand met the light, it started.

Minato was immersed in a sea of energy and emotions. He'd figured from his mom's talks earlier that Musubi would be stronger than before, but this was surreal. It felt like he was surrounded by enough energy to pull the moon from the night sky and then work on making Mars the new Moon. However, as he focused in on the energy around him, he felt something truly foreign that made up about half of the total energy around him; something definitely _not Sekirei_. When he asked Musubi about the foreign energy, she'd answered that it had been his own power adding itself to his Sekirei's. To say that he was gobsmacked at finding out he was _that_ powerful was putting it mildly.

He'd then focused on trying to _feel_ his Sekirei through the bond like before, and he succeeded in that endeavor this time. As soon as his body felt Musubi's part of the bond, he realized that his fears had truly been baseless and inane. Musubi would definitely be different, but she'd still be Musubi. She would still be the woman he'd fallen in love with.

Words couldn't describe his relief and gratitude as soon as he realized that. It was in the next instant where he realized that he wasn't _losing_ anyone with this merging. He was _gaining _a new Musubi, one which allowed Yume to feel the love he felt for all the women in his life all the time.

It had then crashed on him like a ton of bricks falling from the top of M.B.I. tower that he'd never gotten to really know Yume – another person who loved him unconditionally – and, in his selfish reaction to possibly losing Musubi, that he hadn't cared about his hidden Sekirei at all. He'd come out of his mindscape visibly resigned and full of melancholy.

But Musubi brought him out of it, just like always. She'd felt why he was feeling so depressed and had informed her Ashikabi that he could still show Yume how much he cared through Musubi herself now. Since they were both becoming the same being now, Yume would now be able to directly interact with her Ashikabi, something she'd never been able to do before. This news had relieved him somewhat and he vowed to ensure that she always felt loved.

The pair of Ashikabi and Sekirei then enjoyed each other's company for the next hour feeling content with small-talk. Miya had then called everyone for dinner, but when he'd asked Musubi if she was coming she told him that she still wasn't feeling well enough to get out of bed just yet and ordered him to simply go on and spend some time with the others since she'd hogged him all to herself for the entire day. The young man had reluctantly agreed with her and then left to go join everyone for dinner.

He'd entered the dining room feeling considerably more relaxed and accepting of the whole situation at large. All of his other Sekirei were present at the dining table and each were sitting in the same seats they had been earlier for lunch – Tsukiumi looked a little worn out and was sporting some new lumps on the head, but everyone else seemed the same. Kagari had come back to the Inn for dinner and was seated to Kuu's left, Uzume was still absent, Miya was just beginning to seat herself at the table's head, and the last person there pleasantly surprised Minato.

"Yo," Takami greeted her son with a wave of her hand while she was seated to Minato's right once more.

"What are you still doing here mom?" he asked her curiously as he took his assigned seat.

"Am I not allowed to spend time with my son and his wives?" his mom teased.

"W-Wives?" the young man nearly shouted in shock.

"_I_ am his only wife!" Tsukiumi exclaimed possessively. "The others hold the title of concubine, nothing more!"

"I beg to differ," the grey-haired woman smirked at the fuming blonde. "Every Sekirei is equally bonded to their Ashikabi. "Matter-of-fact," she continued to dig her son a deeper hole as her grin turned Cheshire, "in cases such as polygamy, aren't the first woman accepted by their husband considered the legal wife?"

"She's right, you know?" Kagari piped up, unflinching as Tsukiumi glared daggers into his skull.

"So…" Matsu drawled. "Wouldn't that make Musubi the legal wife?" she asked, feigning curiosity.

Takami nodded and her grin had yet to fade from her face. "I do believe that it does," she answered her son's orange-haired Sekirei. Her grin then turned towards her child and asked, "Wouldn't you agree Minato?"

Immediately, the subject of everyone's attention shrank within himself in fear and desired nothing more than to simply disappear at that moment. Tsukiumi's eyes were burning with a fierce ferocity that her Ashikabi hadn't seen since that night on the bridge when the Red Sekirei had threatened his life.

"I plead the fifth!" he yelled in an attempt to protect himself. _Why mom?_ he mentally whined.

"Uh-uh," Kazehana spoke up after taking a drink of sake from the bottle. "We're not in America here love. You don't get that."

"So, _husband_," Tsukiumi spoke slowly while continuing to glare at him. "Am I your legal wife and these others your concubines or not?"

Minato took a steadying breath as he decided to practice something that Musubi had told him he could do: Feel his Sekirei's emotions. It wasn't on the same level as delving into his mind and actively searching for the bond between them, but this would allow him to use their connection to feel the surface emotions of any Sekirei he directed it towards. It would take time for him to master, but he'd managed to read a few things when Musubi had told him to practice on her. She'd told her Ashikabi that when he masters it, he could instinctively perform it for all of his Sekirei simultaneously, but for now he had to focus and could only do it for one Sekirei at a time.

Minato focused his thoughts on Tsukiumi and simply _desired_ with all his being to know what the Water Sekirei was feeling right then. Immediately, he was flooded with a multitude of emotions, but a few in particular stood out to the Ashikabi: Anger – that was obvious – directed towards everyone for even suggesting that she might not be her Ashikabi's legal wife, Jealousy towards Musubi for being his first Sekirei and how he'd spent the entire day worrying over the brunette, but it was the last emotion he detected that surprised the young man the most.

Fear. The elder blonde Sekirei was terrified that he'd tell her he didn't love her enough to ever marry her. She was scared of him saying that he loved another more than her. Tsukiumi was insecure over herself and worried about him eventually regretting becoming her Ashikabi, so she was hell-bent and determined to prove herself as his wife. That way, he'd never regret her loving him and wouldn't reveal that he doesn't love her.

Minato was reeling in shock at discovering Tsukiumi being fearful of him not loving her like the others. He'd never associate the brash, beautiful blonde woman with anything even remotely akin to insecurity and fear. Yet, there it was, and Musubi had repeatedly told him that – while thoughts may be false to both their readers and owners – emotions never lied.

The male Ashikabi's eyes softened as he looked at Sekirei Number Nine with a newfound sense of understanding. Tsukiumi blinked at him in confusion as she noticed his sudden change in posture.

"I won't lie to any of you," Minato began softly after a few moments. "I love all of my Sekirei. I don't know when it started, but I've fallen for all of you. Personally, I don't want to label any of you above another. Each of my Sekirei are unique, and I love them all for it.

"I love Musubi for being the person who introduced me to this whole crazy world and for her single-minded determination. I love Kuu-chan for always wanting me to feel protected, even though she knows she's not the strongest. I love Matsu for her knowledge and willingness to tell me the truth whenever I ask her, regardless of how she knows it'll hurt me. I love Kazehana for her honesty and how she goes out of her way to help me do things I can't on my own. And I love you, Tsukiumi," he stared directly into her ocean blue eyes as he told her, "for how you always seek to prove yourself to me as the ideal partner.

"But the reason I love all of you the same way is because, above all else, you all just want me to be happy. I love how each of you dedicate yourselves to make me smile – whether it be you dressing in some of Uzume's outfits or you all trying to comfort me when I'm feeling down. The only thing any of you want is to just be with me and to make me happy, and I love you all for it more than I can say in words."

His speech was met by silence from all present in the dining room. He felt mental-applause coming from Musubi – she must've been listening in through using Yume's powers to travel down their bond herself. Along with the applause came an emotion of love mixed with pride for her Ashikabi loving each of Sekirei for being who they were, and for loving each of them on equal grounds.

Minato looked around the room and took in everyone's reactions to his little monologue. All of his Sekirei were in stunned silence. Kuu had frozen with her eyes wide and beginning to form tears of happiness. Matsu looked at him, her mouth slightly open in shock, with an unusual gleam in her eyes. Kazehana had also frozen, sake bottle tipped over on the way to her mouth while it was pouring out of the bottle and had been pooling on the floor next to her. Tsukiumi was frozen stiff, her arms straight down as she stared at him with wide eyes.

The male Ashikabi then looked at the other three presences at the table and noticed how they'd reacted. Kagari was gaping at him life a fish with wide eyes and began to fidget uncomfortably under his brief gaze for some reason. Miya was covering her small smile with her hand and was looking at him with apparent satisfaction. Takami had been looking at her oldest child with pride in her eyes before sending Kagari a knowing smirk. As soon as his mother had given the other male at the table that grin, Minato heard a mental gasp from Musubi and a sense of realization. But before he could focus on figuring out what was going on with Kagari, Tsukiumi dragged him from his thoughts as she was the one who broke the silence around the table.

"Dost… Dost thou speak truly?" she asked timidly.

Her Ashikabi merely nodded to her and reaffirmed, "With all my heart Tsukiumi. I love all of you in the same way, but for different reasons. None of you are below anyone else in my heart. So Tsukiumi," he called to her gently, "you don't need to be scared anymore."

The blonde beauty, as well as everyone else who knew anything about her, gawked at this sudden revelation. The Water Sekirei stared at him with wide, astonished eyes at him finding out her greatest secret. After another few minutes of stunned silence, her deep-blue eyes began to gather water on their edges.

She then dove over the table with tears of happiness trailing behind her and knocked him over while burying her face into his chest. "I… I was so scared," Tsukiumi hesitantly admitted in a barely-audible whisper. "'Twas a terrifying thought that you would love another before me."

"I know," he answered her reassuringly. "And I'm sorry that you've been feeling that way. I'd never told any of you how I felt, and I made you all assume. I _do_ love you Tsukiumi, and I'm sorry I never told you.

"That goes for _all_ of you," Minato increased his voice so that all of his present Sekirei could hear him clearly. "I love each and every one of you for who you are. I'm sorry I never told all of you, but I _do_ care for all of you."

"We know Mina-tan," Matsu assured him. "You didn't force any of our Wingings, so each of us knew you'd love us."

"A Sekirei's powers increase with the stronger their bond with their Ashikabi is," Kazehana told him. "And I could tell you cared by how potent my powers got when we kissed. All I've wanted is a portion of your heart for myself, and now I've got what I wanted. Aw!" she whined as she noticed the now-empty sake bottle in her hand.

"Kuu's… Kuu's so happy!" the youngest Sekirei squealed. "Onii-chan loves Kuu as much as his other wives!"

Minato ran his hand down the back of the blonde still on his chest gently. "'Tis… 'Tis such a gratifying thought," Tsukiumi said softly. "To know that my husband shall never love another more than I." She then straightened herself upright, helped her Ashikabi do the same, and gave him a level stare with a different type of determination in her eyes. "However, even though we are all loved equally, do not presume that I shall relinquish the title of Legal Wife."

The Ashikabi merely grew a small grin as the Tsukiumi he loved returned. He didn't say anything in response, but he felt a hint of annoyance and jealousy coming from Musubi through their bond. He also noticed Kusano begin to rise up in challenge.

"You may still wed the others," the older blonde Sekirei added after a moment of hesitation. "They will not be on equal ground as the Legal Wife shall be, but the wife must see to her husband's happiness, and degrading the other wives as nothing more than mere concubines would sadden you."

"I wouldn't have minded," the perverted Sekirei piped up as Tsukiumi got up and returned to her original seat and then she and Kuu entered their usual glaring contest. "That means that I would've gotten to make my Ashikabi howl in –"

The orange-haired woman was interrupted as a Hannya appeared not an inch from her face and she screamed. Miya was then standing behind the bespectacled genius with her dangerous smile back in place.

"There are young ears around Matsu," the violet-haired woman reminded with her sugary-sweet voice. "And must I remind you of the rules _again_?"

"No!" Matsu begged. "Please no! I'll be good. I won't say anything more!"

His mother's chuckles made Minato divert his attention from his pleading Sekirei. "She really hasn't lost her touch over the years," Takami said wistfully.

"Hey mom?" her son called. She turned her head towards him and arched an eyebrow at him in response. "How do you know Miya? The way you two act, I'd think you've known each other for years."

His mother's own grey eyes traveled to the landlady's smiling form as a mask had then manifested next to Kazehana as she noticed the puddle of alcohol on her floor. "That's because I have," Takami revealed. "She has her secrets, and I'm not going to be the one to tell you them, but I can give you a brief summary at least.

"Her late husband, Takehito Asama, was the previous head of Research and Development on the S-Plan – as it was referred to back then – before me. He was a true genius mind, second only to Minaka – as much as I hate him, I can't deny his prowess. Takehito was actually the one who'd originally discovered the Winging system and came up with the process we used on all of the Sekireis after he died."

"I've always wondered about that," Minato interjected, still ignoring the wails coming from two of his Sekirei. "Miya's only said that he died, never anything about how he did."

"It's not my place to tell you," Takami informed him. "If Miya ever feels the need to inform you, then she will. I may've been there when he passed, but it's up to Miya who she'll tell. All I can say is that he gave his life for a noble cause." She then murmured under her breath, "Even if Minaka has perverted his sacrifice."

"He sounded like an honorable man," Minato said.

"He was," Miya's voice came from directly behind him, causing the young man to nearly jump out of his skin. "What might you two be talking about Takami?" she asked seemingly innocently as a mask appeared behind her.

"Relax Miya," his mother told her off-handedly while the son began to sweat nervously. "You have your secrets, and I'm not going to give 'em away. My son asked me how we'd met, and I was just telling him about Takehito and what his research has led to today."

"I see," the landlady answered slowly. Her mask disappeared as she added, "He'd have never allowed the Sekirei Plan to become what it has."

"I don't doubt it," the grey-haired woman sighed. "Unfortunately, it has. Now can my son and I continue our talk? I promise that your secrets will remain yours to tell."

Miya merely stared at Minato's mother before giving her a curt nod. "I don't mind then. I've got to go collect the cleaning supplies for someone to clean up their mess," she said as a mask appeared and directed its gaze towards a visibly sweating Sekirei of Wind. The terrifying landlady then left the dining room to collect what she needed.

"Now where were we?" Takami mused.

"How do you do that mom?" Minato asked her.

"Hmm? Do what?"

"You're not intimidated by those mysterious masks at all," her son reminded her. "How?"

"Oh, that," Takami realized. His mother then chuckled like she was enjoying some kind of inside joke as she then explained, "Miya didn't come up with the 'Demonic Visage.' Takehito did. He was a pretty serious person, and he didn't like it when people slacked off or procrastinated. So whenever someone did, he'd just 'mask' them and viola. He told me one day that he'd originally created it for usage on an old friend of his, but I can't recall the name."

_Probably Seo,_ Minato figured as he pictured the Lightning Twins' Ashikabi and he felt a sweatdrop form.

"Oh well," the M.B.I. researcher drawled, "probably not very important anyways. Now back to Takehito and how I know Miya.

"Miya's older than she looks – don't you dare tell her I said that or I'll skin you alive." Minato quickly agreed for fear of his mother actually carrying out her threat. "Takehito and I were about the same age, and we met in University twenty years ago, and no he isn't your father Minato," she told him as she saw his rising expression. "She and he met around the same time we found the Sekirei. They didn't immediately hit it off; it was a slow-moving relationship.

"You see, Miya wasn't always as happy as she seems now," Takami revealed carefully. "She was almost an emotionless shell of a person for some reason. I'd known her for three years and she'd never smiled, not once. It was Takehito who'd finally gotten her to smile, and she became a completely different person almost overnight.

"The change was like night-and-day. Where before she was indifferent and apathetic, Miya had become happy and content. I was really happy for them when they'd told us that they were finally getting married two years later – everyone knew it was coming, but nobody said anything to them.

"The two of them lived together for a few years after that – during which they opened Izumo Inn and began to take in tenants. Takehito gave his life around seven or eight years ago now, and Miya hasn't been the same since. She still loves Takehito dearly, but I'm worried about her. She's never tried to find happiness again, like I'm certain Takehito would've wanted her to do. Especially since, well…" she trailed off.

"Since what?" he implored, curious.

Takami tiredly sighed again and answered, "Sorry, but that's one of her secrets, and I just promised I'd not tell you about it. I think she'll tell you eventually, so just be patient and find other things to wonder about." She then gave him a teasing grin and asked, "Like when am I gonna get grandkids to spoil?"

"G-G-G-G-Grandkids!" Minato shouted and then everyone's eyes were on the pair of mother and child.

"Is that what you're worrying about Takami?" Kazehana asked slyly. "I'd _love_ to get started right now if Minato doesn't mind," she finished teasingly as she winked at and blew her Ashikabi a sensual kiss.

Minato's mind – like any other nineteen-year-old male's – immediately took its predictable turn, and blood flew out of his nose like a faucet on the highest setting. He fell backwards and began twitching on the floor with his brain still picturing the process of baby-making with the beautiful woman.

"I'm _sure_ you would you little…" Takami grumbled under her breath.

Matsu pushed her glasses upwards and her traditional gleam reappeared in her eyes. "With Musubi temporarily out of the picture I've got a seventeen percent better chance to be the first to help you with that problem Takami," she said as the orange-haired woman began to cackle perversely.

Tsukiumi had lost any composure she'd previously had and was staring at the prone, twitching form of Minato with her head completely scarlet and steam blowing from her ears. "Minato's children…" the older blonde said dreamily and kept on repeating it like a mantra.

Kuu just looked at the still-twitching form of her Ashikabi – who was beginning to lie in a pool of his own blood, the highly amused – yet conflicted – look on Takami's face, the perverted grin of Matsu's, the dreamy air around Kazehana, and the steadily-deepening red shade of Tsukiumi with an innocent expression and asked, "Why's 'nii-chan acting like when Musubi 'nee-chan falls on him?"

Miya walked back into the room to find a highly amused Takami, a pair of cackling former Disciplinary Squad members, noticed that Kagari had completely disappeared for some reason, a blonde Sekirei who kept on repeating something about bearing Minato's child before any of the others as the proper wife, a thoroughly confused Kusano, and the young Ashikabi passed out and twitching in a puddle of his own blood.

The violet-haired woman let out a tired sigh and said, "I leave for three minutes. I'll be right back, I'm gonna need more rags and a few tissues now."

* * *

It had taken around ten minutes to revive Minato from entering an unconscious state due to a drastic reduction in his hemoglobin levels leaving his cranium through his nasal cavity. The young Ashikabi had blinked at his mother's excessively long-winded and overly-complicated way of saying his teenaged mind had forced him to pass out.

He'd looked around the table after the stars had left his eyes and noticed that – thanks to Miya's presence, no doubt – everyone had calmed down and all of his Sekirei had docile, resigned expressions on their faces, even Kazehana. The raven-haired youth noticed the noticeable lack of testosterone in the room and asked, "Where'd Kagari go?"

"Something came up," Miya's tone sent chills down Minato's spine as she smiled her dangerous smile at him again. "And _how_ many times must I remind you of the rules of Izumo Inn Minato-kun?" All three Hannya masks manifested simultaneously and their piercing gazes drilled into his skull.

"I… I, uh," Minato racked his brains for some way to placate the terrifying landlady, but the fear swimming in his veins had temporarily ceased all blood-flow into his brain.

He was saved, however, by Uzume walking into the room and brightly saying, "Miya! Chiho loved your food again. She told me to…" she trailed off as she noticed what was going on in the dining room. "So… What's going on here? Wait," she told them, "let me see if I can guess. This looks _so _familiar.

"Let's see," Uzume mused on. "Minato's on the receiving end of all three masks – yikes. I'd say I feel sorry for you, but I really don't. All the others here look like someone kicked their puppy, so… I'm guessing the 'No Illicit Affairs' rule was broken again. Honestly Minato," Uzume sighed in falsified pity, "if I didn't know any better I'd say you were a masochist with how often those things are headed your way."

"But I didn't do anything!" the ronin wailed.

"Not the way it looks," Takami continued to smirk at him.

"Not helping mom!"

"Wasn't trying to," the grey-haired woman shrugged in response.

"Mom?" Uzume parroted the young man on his knees. She then turned – now ignoring Minato's pleas for assistance – towards the M.B.I. researcher and asked, "He's your son?" She jabbed her thumb in the young Ashikabi's direction.

"What is this, 'Ask Takami Everything' Day?" Minato's mom said, exasperation in her voice as she threw her hands in the air.

"Apparently," Matsu grumbled under her breath, but quickly returned to silence when one of the masks began to turn towards her.

"Seeing as how dinner has already been eaten," Miya began to recite their decided sentencing, "none of you will have lunch tomorrow." She then continued on as all guilty parties groaned, "And none of you – regardless of the challenge tomorrow – will sit next to Minato tomorrow."

"Now see here!" Tsukiumi began to fume. Kazehana wisely decided to keep her mouth shut for once.

All of the masks and Miya's smiling form directed their gazes towards the rapidly-hesitating blonde beauty. "I'm sorry," the sugary voice of the dangerous landlady said to the Water Sekirei. "I'm afraid I didn't hear you all that clearly."

The timidity was showing on her face as sweat began to fall from Tsukiumi's brow. "'Twas… 'Twas naught but my musings given voice, Landlady-dono. There's nothing worth wasting your time repeating."

"That's what I thought," the violet-haired woman concluded with a satisfied nod before her masks dispersed once more.

"Is everything okay!?" Musubi's voice shouted from the hallway. "I felt a great power show up and I –"

She didn't finish as the Sekirei everyone had believed to be too sickly to even move sprinted into the dining room and noticed everyone was staring at her.

_How?_ Minato wondered. _She was too weak to even move an hour ago, but now she looks like her usual self. Except from her change in clothes._

Musubi – for all the time her Ashikabi had known her – never changed from her usual outfit of a red skirt and her white gi which resembled traditional miko clothing with a pink sash around her waist. However, it appeared that Yume's history as head of the Disciplinary Squad had influenced Musubi's choice in attire now.

Musubi's usual short, red skirt had been replaced by a black mini-skirt that had a silver lining along the seams with a pair of mid-thigh-length, form-fitting, light red leggings underneath in order to prevent any flashes. Her thigh-high stockings and pair of brown boots were now only mid-calf high white sock with pink thread along the top and another pair of boots, but these were black combat boots. The white gi with red string was now a form-fitting, tight, sliver-and-black leather top that covered her down to the waist – yet left little to the imagination – with sleeves that extended down to the middle of her forearms. Her formerly solid-red gloves were replaced by a pair of fingerless, red gloves that had black lines trailing down the fingers and down to the wrists.

If there had been any doubt in anyone's mind before, it had scampered away when the brown-haired Sekirei had sprinted into the dining room; Musubi and Yume were – if not yet, then close to – combined into one, entirely new person. However, while the new state of dress was mostly Yume's influence, Musubi was also present in the choice of clothing as well.

"What's everyone staring at?" Musubi blinked at them innocently. "Is there something on my face?" she asked as she pointed to her head.

Everyone in the room collectively sweatdropped and all thought the same thing, _Yep. Still Musubi._

"Oh!" the subject of everyone's attention said in realization as the reason behind their stares revealed itself to her. "Must be the clothes, right? I hope you don't mind, Miya. I had to borrow a few things from you because nobody else had what I wanted in my size."

"M-Musubi?" Matsu asked hesitantly.

"Yes Matsu?" the childish voice answered curiously. "What is it?"

"How… How are you feeling?" the bespectacled Sekirei asked cautiously.

"Great!" Musubi chirped. "Actually," she amended, "I feel amazing! The merging is about ninety-percent done now, and the last ten – from my observations and hypotheses – will require a key before it's completely finished. What?" the silver-clad Sekirei asked as she took in everyone's gawking expressions. "Oh. Yume's pretty smart," she answered their unasked questions while tapping her temple with her forefinger. "Not as smart as you, Matsu, but smarter than Musubi ever was."

"I've been wondering something," Takami spoke up. "Where's your Sekirei Symbol at now Musubi?"

"Right here," she turned around and pointed to the middle of her back, instead of the base of her neck – like all the other Sekireis Minato knew of. "I think it's because of the combination of Yume's intense presence combining with Musubi's durable body. Because they combined Spirits and both had their Symbols in different places, my Symbol is now kind of a combination of them both. It's level with my womb – like where Yume's was – and on my back like Musubi's was."

"I knew it!" Uzume exclaimed in recognition and then all eyes were upon the other brunette in the room. "I knew about Yume giving Musubi her Tama," she admitted sheepishly. "Takehito was my adjuster, and he kinda let it slip one day. To be honest though, I'd completely forgotten until I felt Yume's power the other night." The normally-bubbly Sekirei's expression then turned sour before sending a brief glare Musubi's way. Her face then went downcast, as if she'd just recalled something completely depressing.

Musubi had noticed the flicker of resentment in Uzume's eyes directed at her before it became one of utmost melancholy. She didn't approach the other Sekirei, but asked genuinely, "What's wrong Uzume? Yume's powers haven't completely become mine yet, but I can feel the sadness coming from within you, as well as… not hatred, but antipathy directed towards me. Did I do something to you Uzume? If so, I'm sorry for whatever it is, but can you please tell me what it is I did."

"It's not something you can just _apologize _for," the costume-making Sekirei grumbled. "Besides, I promised Chiho…"

"I won't press," Minato's brunette Sekirei told Uzume carefully, "but if you want to tell me then I'll listen."

"Fine then!" Uzume snapped at her and everyone in the room had their eyes go wide in astonishment since Uzume had _never_ shown any open hostility towards _anyone_ before. "You wanna know so bad!? I'll tell you! Chiho's _dying_ because of… this," she gestured towards all of Musubi. "Chiho's…" she began to sob as her voice dropped to a whisper. "Chiho's dying Musubi… Yume… Whoever you are!"

"Hold on a second here," Minato defended his now-stunned Sekirei. "What's going on Uzume?"

"I would like to know as well," Miya's gentle voice spoke up.

"You know how Chiho's sick Miya?" Uzume asked the landlady. At the other woman's nod, she continued, "It went terminal yesterday, after all the hospital's equipment _all_ went haywire at the same time that Yume had her little power showing."

Musubi was frozen stiff in shock, her eyes wide and staring at nothing while her mouth was slightly agape. "I… I…" she kept on starting, but never able to continue.

"_You_ did this!" Uzume yelled as a few white veils began to swirl around her. "And yet," she whispered and her veils stopped storming, "I know you never meant for this to happen. And Chiho _begged_ me not to hate you for it. Know this," she told Musubi softly as her eyes went to the floor. "Even though you _are_ responsible for not only my Ashikabi and who-knows how many others' deaths, I _won't _hate you; I _won't_ degrade Chiho's memory that way. However, that doesn't mean I'll forgive you."

"Uzume," Kazehana tried. "Are you _certain _nothing can be done to save your Ashikabi?"

"She's right," Takami spoke up, drawing all eyes – except for the still-stunned Musubi – upon her. "I'm not only the head of the Sekirei Plan; I'm the Department Chair of the Research and Development level. If you can get your Ashikabi to M.B.I. before it's too late, we should be able to save Chiho's life if the hospital she's at can't. What's the name of the disease, most that can't be cured at normal hospitals we can."

Uzume blinked back hot tears as she shook her head. "It's already too late," she revealed to everyone sadly. "The disease Chiho's got is so new that it doesn't even have a name yet. Chiho's only the third person to ever be diagnosed with it.

"The doctors in Chiho's hospital called it the 'Jack the Ripper' disease, named after someone you can guess. Chiho's doctor told me that they called it that because it's so effective and its source can't ever be found. They don't even know if it's bacterial or viral yet. It also attacks _everything_ in the body. Every organ, every cell, every muscle, it shuts them all down."

"I actually know the disease you're talking about," Minato's mother told the distraught Sekirei. "We _do_ have the counter to it, and can cure it if you can get Chiho to M.B.I. as soon as possible."

"It's impossible," Uzume reiterated as tears fell down her cheeks, leaving hot trails. "Unless M.B.I. can completely revive her stomach, liver, and re-grow her a new brain as well, Chiho's gonna die by tomorrow night. I only came back because she told me that I need to tell all of you something before it's too late."

"What could be so important that you're here instead of at your Ashikabi's side?" Minato finally got over his own shock and asked the lone Sekirei of Izumo Inn (that he knew of) not Winged by him.

"That…" Uzume revealed slowly after wiping her eyes. "That I've been reacting to you these past two days, Minato. And that… And that you're going to be my second Ashikabi."

* * *

**A/N:** Boom! The countdown is finally over and the story's finally lifted off! Uzume finally made it back to Izumo Inn, Musubi has shown up in her new-self's glory, and people are going to be finding out some shocking truths here soon.

I'm really curious about your opinions of the more-accurate showing of Musubi's new personality. I kept her old self in there, and I also added the intellect required for a Disciplinary Squad leader. I know it's not much yet, as she really hasn't gotten that much screen time yet, thanks to all of the horrible realities that keep on crashing down around her, but what do you think about the new Sekirei of Fate? (That will be Musubi's new title. Musubi: The Second Sekirei of Fate. Corny? Cliche'? Let me know if you've got a better idea.) Also, what do you think about her new outfit? I didn't base it off of anything really, I just kind of thought about what a combination between Yume's outfit and personality, and Musubi's outfit and personality could combine and make... and viola! I figured that a combination between Yume and Musubi would also constitute a change in outfit for the new Sekirei, so I came up with this one. I'd like to know your thoughts on it.

There are plenty of things that will be occurring in the next chapter, and it will be fairly emotional to say the least. It's planned to be the end of Chiho and I'm almost dreading writing it out. My heart was nearly torn from my chest when I wrote that scene with Uzume and Chiho in the last chapter, and the next one is going to be even worse. Kuu won't be able to become real friends with Chiho like she did in canon when they meet. Kazehana's going to witness a love's story's pages torn out of the book before anything can be written. I mean, it's just going to hurt everyone. And Musubi's going to be hit almost as hard as Uzume is.

However, before I write arguably the most emotional scene I've ever attempted, I shall be returning to my Code Geass story for a chapter. I've made those fans wait for long enough on an update after leaving them on such a horrible cliffhanger. After seeing one of my favorite stories on the CG page finally update after around six months of waiting, I've decided to give all those fans a break from their anticipation. It's just wrong to keep such devoted fans waiting for so long. I will immediately return to this story, because I'm trying to focus on the other stories I've got plotted out in my head for now, but this iron is hot in my mind and wants to continue branding my followers.

Thanks for enjoying this story with me so far. I've got many new plans plotted, and Akitsu is a definite in now. So you Akitsu fans may rejoice! I'll hopefully see all of you over in my Code Geass story for my next update, but if not then I'll see y'all when I come back to Unique Circumstance.

Peace! Enjoy life and expect the best from the stories I write. I only desire to create great stories for my fans, and I want to know if you believe they are. Later peeps!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

"I'm sorry," Takami was the first to break the stunned silence that had descended upon the room after Uzume's last declaration. She then stuck her finger in her ear and acted as though she were cleaning the auditory appendage and said, "I'm afraid I had something crazy in my ear. Could you please repeat that? 'Cause I thought you said your _second_ Ashikabi."

"I did," Uzume nodded in confirmation to Minato's mother. The brown-haired Sekirei then turned back to the grey-eyed young man and repeated clearly for all to hear, "You're going to be my _second_ Ashikabi, Minato."

"How… How?" Matsu managed to say. "We're not supposed to be able to get a second Ashikabi."

"I… I don't really know myself," Uzume admitted hesitantly. "I remember Takehito telling me that I may not deactivate if I would ever lose my Ashikabi."

"I gotta hear this," Takami cut in skeptically with a calculating look on her face. "You mean to say that _Takehito Asama_ told you this when he was adjusting you?"

The Sekirei with the side-ponytail nodded again in answer. "He…He told me that he didn't want any of us to lose someone we love and not be able to find another person to love."

Minato noticed Miya's brown eyes widen at hearing Uzume's admission. Confused at the entire situation, the young ronin asked, "Just what in the world is going on?"

"Something that shouldn't be possible," Kazehana answered him.

"A Sekirei isn't supposed to be able to find a second Ashikabi, Mina-tan," his glasses-wearing Sekirei informed him. "A Sekirei's Tama is connected to their Ashikabi's spirit through their bond, so if the Ashikabi ever dies, then the Sekirei is meant to deactivate as if their crest dissipated from battle. That means –"

"That means a Sekirei _can't _have any other Ashikabi than their first," the M.B.I. researcher took over the explanation. "A Sekirei is designed in such a way that they love only one person, and that person is their fated Ashikabi. A Sekirei's body reacts whenever they get near their fated partner because their Tama resonates in synchronization with their Ashikabi's individual spirit."

The wayward college student's mind was still trying to make sense of everything he'd just been lectured on, but he was able to grasp the gist of the explanations at least. Minato then recalled what Uzume had said to him earlier before he stared directly into her eyes and asked the brown-haired young woman, "Are you _sure_ you were reacting to me, Uzume?"

"I –" the Sekirei of Veils began to explain before she was interrupted by another.

"She has been," Musubi's voice cut through the room's atmosphere with how certain she sounded in her declaration. Apparently, she'd finally recovered from the shock Uzume had given her earlier. As everyone turned to look at the silver-clad woman, she continued, "Or rather, she still is."

"How do you know that?" Uzume demanded with a slight edge to her tone and narrowed eyes.

The recently-combined Sekirei took in and let out a slow breath before simply telling everyone, "Yume's powers." Her brown orbs stared at Minato before saying, "All you need to do is touch her, Minato, and you'll be able to see the truth for yourself."

The young Ashikabi was skeptical. _But what do I have to lose? _he asked himself as he turned back to look at the woman claiming that she'll soon be another of his Sekirei. "Are you okay with this?" he asked her.

Uzume nodded to him. "I am. I… I need to know for certain as well, Minato. I'll admit you've seemed cuter than usual these past few days," she told him, leading to a small flush spreading on his cheeks. "But, that's all there's been. I'm still holding onto some doubt, because me thinking you're cute isn't anything new, and these new thoughts could just be me getting the _itch_."

Minato's grey eyes blinked, unsure of her meaning. "Uh… What?"

"She means that she might want to jump your bones, love," Kazehana piped up before shutting back up as a Hannya appeared in front of her.

The black-haired youth blushed at the Sekirei of Wind's not-so-subtle innuendo, but it helped him understand at least. "I'm…flattered, Uzume," he said, embarrassment obvious for all to see.

"Just…" Uzume told him, annoyance building up in her voice. "Can we just get this out of the way already?" she nearly begged. "I need to know, one way or the other."

"Sure," he nodded as he acquiesced to her request. The young Ashikabi then surprised everyone by wrapping the clearly-distraught woman in a comforting embrace. "Is… Is this okay, Uzume?" he asked nervously.

He immediately felt Uzume's body tense and begin to heat up in his arms. The Sekirei of Veils then began to pant heavily, as if she'd just run a marathon, and her eyes became glazed-over and glossy. "Oh, I," she leaned closer to his ear, her heated breath tickling his skin and sending hot sensations down his spine, "am definitely reacting to you, Minato."

The brown-haired woman in his arms then gripped the sides of his head with her palms and pushed his head back a little. Their eyes met, and the young Ashikabi could swear he saw lust present in her eyes. Uzume then crashed her lips over his own, shocking everyone in the room with her sudden action.

Minato felt himself stiffen as she began to deepen the kiss and began to lip-lock with even more vigor than he'd ever gotten from any of his Sekirei before. The young man then felt Uzume's tongue at his lips, demanding entrance into his mouth. He held fast for a moment before he opened his mouth and returned the kiss.

However, he took her by surprise, forcing her to squeal a little in shock, by forcing her tongue back and plundering her own cavity with a fervor she hadn't know he possessed. Uzume let out a sensual moan as she relented to his tongue's ministrations and his hands began to slowly move their way down her back. _Tastes like cotton candy,_ Minato couldn't help but think about the woman who'd basically melted into putty in his arms.

The pair faintly heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, but they were too caught up in the moment. So they ignored them.

Uzume pushed herself closer to Minato, so close that he could feel her more-than-ample breasts press into and squeeze themselves on his chest. She groaned into his mouth as she began to launch a tongue-war counter-attack, but he repulsed her and resumed his own explorations.

Uzume's hands fisted his lengthy black tresses and pulled him even closer to her, somehow. She then wrapped her own tongue around his own before her hands came down from the side of his face and briefly rested on his shoulders. She soon began to absently massage his upper torso as her arms started to work their way down his body. She pressed her hips against his own and moaned at the contact as her hands snaked around his waist. The brown-haired woman's fists then gripped the bottom of Minato's shirt and began to slowly pull it upwards.

It was at that precise moment that the kissing duo suddenly became drenched by a waterfall that seemingly came out of nowhere. The sudden shock of freezing water jolted the two of them out of their little trance and they quickly separated their lips. Minato noticed that Uzume's pair had become rather red and puffy from his suckling, and the two of them blinked at each other in confusion before each suddenly realized what they'd nearly gotten to.

Uzume's face immediately lit up and became the same shade as a tomato, and Minato's wasn't far behind on that front. Each of them looked down at their individually soaked forms, then up, down again, and then up once more as they stared back at each other.

"Um…" Minato tried to speak, but his mind was apparently still shut-down from their earlier exploits. "I… Um… I'm sorry?"

The woman still in his arms vehemently shook her head at him and replied, "No. I'm… I'm the sorry one. It wasn't supposed to happen like this," she murmured sadly as she looked away from him.

The Sekirei of Veils then shivered in his arms as she dropped her gaze to the floor, unable to meet his eyes. "Uzume?" he asked worriedly. "What's wrong? Are you cold?"

Without raising her eyes, Uzume shook her head in denial. Her body shook again as she told him, "It wasn't supposed to… I wasn't… All that should have happened was my body would get a little warmer. But… But I… I shouldn't have reacted so _strongly_. Hell," she continued with a humorless chuckle, "I nearly stripped you and 'jumped your bones,' like 'nee-san said."

"Look, Uzume," he tried to assure her as she continued to shudder while still in his embrace. "I –"

"I can't believe I lost control like that," the soaked Sekirei hiccupped. She looked up at him and Minato noticed two trails of water falling from the corners of her eyes. "Chiho's not even dead yet, and I'm already trying to get you in bed, Minato. This… This isn't me!"

"You're right about that," the voice of Kazehana broke up their little bubble.

Both the brown-haired Sekirei and the black-haired Ashikabi had their eyes widen in shock as they re-realized that they weren't alone. Minato summarized it best as he said, "Crap."

"That's one way of putting it," Takami's voice cut in again. "You two were really lost in it. Weren't they, _Mi-ya_?"

Both of the guilty parties froze stiff as they were reminded of the terrifying, violet-haired landlady of Izumo Inn. Uzume nervously laughed as both her and Minato's heads creaked around and witnessed Miya sitting at the head of the table with a dangerous, visible aura surrounding her. "We're dead, aren't we?" the Sekirei of Veils asked.

"Nope," Miya returned sweetly. She then pulled out her infamous Ladle of Doom before all three Hannya masks appeared behind her. "But it is time to remind the two of you of the rules here at Izumo Inn, né?"

Minato and his soon-to-be Sekirei audibly gulped as sweat began to fall from both of their brows. "Uh…" he tried to say something to placate the dangerous woman and try to prolong his demise. "We're sorry and we'll never do it again?" However, that didn't deter the terrifying woman at all, as a _fourth_ mask suddenly manifested next to the other three.

"We're fucked," Uzume stated flatly as she aptly described their current situation.

"Actually, you were close to it," Takami smirked at her son and the guilty woman. She then sighed and absently continued, "To think, my little boy nearly had his first time right in front of his mother. Whatever happened to common decency?"

The following thirty minutes were filled with the agonizing screams of an Ashikabi and a Sekirei begging for mercy for breaking the House Rules.

Outside, on the roof, chills went down Homura's back. "And to think," he thought aloud as the aforementioned screams echoed in the night, "I'm reacting to him as well." The Flame Sekirei's hand rested over his chest before stating, "This is becoming more and more crazy every day."

* * *

"Atchoo!" Minato sneezed as he held an icepack over the many lumps atop his head.

"Quit hogging the ice," Uzume admonished him before stealing it back and placing the cold bag over her own set of lumps.

Miya had been merciless.

"Can I _please_ go change out of these clothes now?" the young Ashikabi asked again. "I'll catch a cold if I'm forced to sit around in these freezing things."

"Then perhaps thou shouldst have considered that before engaging in such an activity with one who's not even a Sekirei of yours," Tsukiumi huffed at him before crossing her arms over her chest and turning her nose up with a sniff.

"Oh, come on Tsukiumi," Matsu spoke up in her Ashikabi's defense. "Uzume's a hot chick with a fantastic body, Minato can't be blamed for his teenaged, male body reacting the way it would naturally. Heck, I nearly jumped in to get a piece of the action myself – eep!" she finished as a Hannya mask showed up in front of her.

"Do you want 'nee-san to _blow away_ the cold, honey," Kazehana winded at him seductively as she blew him a kiss. The innuendo didn't go unnoticed, either, as a lump suddenly showed up on her head and Minato fell backwards from the force of another nosebleed.

Before his head could collide with the cold, unforgiving floor, however, he felt his head land on something soft and warm. The young ronin opened his grey eyes and looked up to see Musubi's bright, smiling face looking down at him.

"You can rest there, if you want," she confirmed for him. "I'm not using my lap right now, so just lay there if you feel like it."

Usually, Minato would say that he didn't need to stay there and he would insist on it, but this time he was too tired and cold to offer any kind of protest. Besides, her thighs were warm and just as soft as any pillow he'd ever slept on before.

_Lap…pillow?_ he wondered if the name would adequately describe what he was currently experiencing. _And it has such a legendary softness to it._

"Can Kuu open her eyes now?" the smallest Sekirei present asked. "'Nee-chan said Kuu didn't want to see what was going on, and Kuu's starting to get sleepy from keeping her eyes shut!"

_Sure doesn't sound like it,_ Minato thought with a sweatdrop.

"Of course, Kuu-chan," Musubi answered kindly. "It's all over now."

"Yay!" Kusano chirped as she bounced off of her seat. Her green orbs blinked in confusion as she noticed how Minato and Uzume looked before she innocently asked, "What'd Kuu miss?"

"You don't wanna know," Uzume told her with a pained groan.

The smallest Sekirei tilted her head sideways and let out a cute moan in confusion. "But Kuu –" she interrupted herself as she let out a large yawn.

Musubi chuckled in a motherly fashion before saying, "It looks like you're really tired, Kuu-chan."

"Kuu's not!" the smaller blonde tried to protest, but another adorable yawn killed any further attempts at denial. "Okay," the green-eyed Sekirei relented as she wiped her eye. "Kuu's sleepy and wants to sleep."

Miya stood up from her place at the table and said to the youngest one, "Come on, Kusano. I'll take you to bed."

"Okay," the younger blonde Sekirei agreed sleepily before Miya took her hand and led her out of the dining room.

"Well then," Takami spoke up as she walked over to her son and leaned over him while putting her hands on her hips. "Would you care to explain what happened earlier, Minato?"

A pained groan came from the previously-involved Sekirei and Ashikabi, prompting a few giggles from Musubi. Takami looked at the young woman her son was currently resting his head on and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think I can tell you," Musubi told everyone.

"Oh?" Kazehana prompted an explanation.

"Yume?" Matsu guessed.

"Correct, Matsu," Musubi smiled at her fellow bond-sisters. "Yume's abilities let me know a bunch of things. The best skill I've got now would have to be how I can sense emotions and how I can notice when a Sekirei is reacting to someone. It's not tuned enough for me to be able to do what Yume could do, but I can notice when someone reacts to my Ashikabi here," she said as she rubbed Minato's forehead gently. The young man leaned his head into her palm, making her giggle a little.

"So you knew for certain that Uzume was reacting to my son?" his mother asked her skeptically.

"Not until I regained myself from what Uzume told me about," she answered her Ashikabi's mom with a single nod. "Because of my shock, my mind and abilities were scrambled. But once I calmed down, I felt the passion Uzume's been keeping in check for some time now. Whether it was originally directed towards Minato or if it just finally found someone to let itself out on, I don't know."

"It wasn't originally for Minato," Uzume informed everyone as she rubbed her left cheek, but the rest of her bumps and bruises were already gone. Minato was extremely jealous of the Sekirei's natural healing ability. "But Musubi's right on how it'd been building up for awhile."

"What do you mean, Uzume?" the purple-clad Wind Sekirei asked.

"Her Ashikabi has been gravely ill since before they even met," Miya informed them all as she walked back into the room. "Kuu must've really been tired," she told everyone with a smile. "She just fell straight to sleep."

"So what you mean," Matsu pieced together, "is that your natural passion for your Ashikabi has been building up ever since you've been Winged because you couldn't let it loose with Chiho for fear of her health, is that right, Uzume?"

The brown-haired Sekirei nodded as she handed Musubi the icepack for Minato's usage. She smiled sadly as she answered, "That's right, Matsu. I was Winged at least two months before you were, and you know how a Sekirei's passion grows towards their Ashikabi every day. It can be dangerous if it isn't let out, like it was earlier," she finished as she rubbed a spot on her head where a particularly large lump had been earlier. "How'd you last so long, 'nee-san?"

"I was never Winged before," the purple-haired woman shrugged nonchalantly. "So my passion had no real reason to start building up, as my body hadn't been honed in on an Ashikabi yet. Ever since Minato and I first kissed, though, I _have_ felt it beginning to build up."

Tsukiumi nodded in agreement before saying, "'Tis the same for I. Whilst my passion is becoming noticeable, it has not yet reached the stage of causing myself or mine husband strife."

"So you mean to say," Minato piped up as Musubi placed the cooling icepack over his head, "that all of you have those same urges Uzume had earlier, and if you don't have some outlet before it gets too large, then it'll boil over like what occurred earlier?"

"That's correct, Minato," Musubi congratulated him kindly. "If a Sekirei doesn't get their 'release' – for lack of a better word – then their urges can overtake their reason if they're not careful."

"Like I wasn't," Uzume told him sadly.

"So let me get this straight," Takami spoke up. "Each of you are getting the _itch_ for my son, and unless each of you get yours from him, then you'll become some kind of single-minded, lust-driven, sex maniacs?"

All of his Sekirei, plus Uzume, briefly looked at each other before shrugging. "That's one way of putting it," Uzume answered.

Minato suddenly had an unsettling feeling well-up in his gut as his mother burst out in uproarious laughter. "Oh," she finally managed through her laughing, "that's rich. Well, good luck Minato. A Sekirei has tremendous endurance, so I hope you'll be able to keep up."

"He'll be able to, Musubi told his mother with every confidence in her voice, making the young Ashikabi feel just a _little _uncomfortable with the fact that they were discussing this with his _mother_ of all people. "Minato hasn't let us down yet, and I believe he'll continue to do so in _every_ way."

_Oh God,_ Minato silently prayed. _Save me from this embarrassment._

"You know," Uzume teasingly smirked at the visibly-sweating Ashikabi lying on Musubi's lap, "there's a lot of guys who'd kill to be in your shoes, Minato. Five gorgeous chicks wanting to get you in bed –"

"Some of them together," Matsu chimed in with a perverted cackle.

"– and each of us more than willing," the Sekirei of Veils finished seductively. However, before she could continue any further and cause the poor man yet _another_ nosebleed, a Hannya mask appeared in front of her and stopped her in her tracks.

"Ara, ara," Miya said in her dangerously sweet tone. "Are you planning on breaking the rules _again_, Uzume?"

"Uh, no," the brown-haired Sekirei retreated quickly. "Just stating a fact, Miya."

For the first time in his life, Minato was grateful for the landlady's terrifying presence. _I don't think I'll be able to survive this,_ he thought as he let out an audible sigh in relief.

Takami looked at her watch and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Oh, shit," the M.B.I. researcher murmured. "It's this late already. I'm amazed Minaka hasn't tried to blow up the city without me around." She quickly collected her coat before walking back over to her son's prone form. She kicked his ribs, making him gasp in pain and grip his now-aching rib cage. "Take care of yourself, brat.

"I'm not gonna be around forever, ya know? Don't get yourself or any of these lovely ladies hurt, maimed, disfigured, scarred, etc…because they've gone and grown on me. I want you to get me some grandkids, but I'm willing to wait on that until you win this whole damned Sekirei Plan, okay?" She then turned away from him and said as she walked away, "Oh, and be sure you tell your sister to give me a call sometime. I miss talking to my daughter."

As she opened the door to leave, Minato called to her, "Mom?"

The grey-haired mother turned her head to where she was looking at him from the corner of her eye. "Yeah?" she answered him.

"Thanks for coming by," her son said to her with a grateful smile. "Don't be such a stranger if you can help it."

A smile graced his mother's face before she answered him, "Sure. I'll be around. Minato, ladies." Takami then walked out of the room and shut the door behind her.

"So, who brought who to meet the parent?" Uzume chimed in as an attempt to ease the atmosphere a bit.

"I do believe it is growing late," Miya ordered everyone. "We should be getting to bed soon."

"But I –" Matsu began to protest before a sharp gaze from the landlady shut her down.

Every Sekirei except for Uzume and Musubi then got up to follow Miya out of the room in order to give the trio a little privacy for them to work out everything that's happened during the day's course.

"Well, now that we have a little privacy, can we talk, Uzume?" Musubi requested of her fellow brunette.

"I guess," she shrugged in response. "Look," she cut in before Musubi could continue, "it's like I said earlier: I know you didn't mean to do that to Chiho, okay? Just…give me a little time and we should be able to go back to being good friends again."

"That's good," the Reborn Sekirei of Fate gave the lone other Sekirei present a kind smile. "But I think we need to include our favorite man in this talk."

"I'm listening," Minato told them both while his eyes stayed closed in relaxation. "It's just too comfortable for me to move right now."

The two beauties giggled at him. "Thank you, Minato," Musubi said to him in response. "But we _all_ need to talk right now, and that includes you."

"Alright," he grumbled as he sat up. The raven-haired youth rubbed his head, expecting to find more lumps, but found no pain from where Miya'd had her field day with him as a training dummy. "Huh?" he wondered aloud. "What happened?"

"I used some of my new abilities to speed up the healing process," Musubi revealed to him. She gave him a bright smile and said, "Now you're just as healthy as me or Uzume!"

"Wow," Uzume whispered in appraisal of the other Sekirei's newfound ability. "How'd you do that, Musubi?"

"Well," she began to explain. "I used my ability to utilize the connection between Minato and I, and I sent some of my own advanced healing into him in order to help him feel better."

"So I have the same healing abilities as a Sekirei now?" Minato asked with wide, astonished, and hopeful eyes.

"Of course not, silly," Musubi playfully admonished him with a teasing swipe of her hand, making Uzume sweatdrop and cause Minato's excitement at the notion of being able to recover easier drain away. "I can only give you a temporary boost through our link, but we both have to have skin-to-skin contact for it to work."

"So," Uzume smirked at her fellow Sekirei lecherously, "does that mean you could be a little rough with him and he'll be just like new the next morning?"

"Yep!" the normally-oblivious woman chirped in response, but Minato got the feeling that she didn't miss the double entendre this time. "But I'd not mind if Minato decided to be the rough one either." She definitely didn't miss it.

"Hello," Minato waved his arms dramatically in order to draw the two girls' attention. "Right here, you know," he reminded them.

"We know," Uzume told him.

"We're just making sure you know we wouldn't mind," the other Sekirei grinned at him.

The young Ashikabi sweatdropped at the pair of giggling women. _What is wrong with them?_ he silently wondered.

"There's still some residual pheromones in the air," Musubi informed him, as if she'd just read his thoughts.

"Really?" The other brown-haired woman feigned shock as she said, "I hadn't noticed."

The black-haired Ashikabi merely sweatdropped again as the pair of brown-eyed girls descended into another fit of giggles. _I'm not even gonna try._

"Now then," Minato's first Sekirei turned serious. "Why don't we finally have the talk that Uzume's been dreading all night long, won't we?"

The other brunette winced before she nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I should probably get all this off of my chest now, before…"

"We know, Uzume," Minato reminded her soothingly. He reached out and gave her trembling hand a comforting squeeze with a gentle smile on his face.

"You're the best Minato," she smiled at him gratefully, "you really are." She removed her hand from his grasp gently before beginning, "Well, it's as I've already said for everyone. Chiho's…and I'm reacting to you. I think it started when it did – before I knew about Chiho – because my body knew what was going to happen through my bond with Chiho."

"That's what I'm thinking as well," Musubi nodded in agreement with her assessment. "Our bonds with our Ashikabi are complex constructs in-and-of-themselves, and I never realized just how much that was true until Yume and Musubi merged. Now, with Yume's abilities, I am in constant contact with Minato's bonds between all of his Sekirei and even the bonds he's close to forming."

"Wait," he interrupted, noticing her word choice. "You just said _bonds_, didn't you? Does that mean that _another_ Sekirei is already reacting to me?"

"Mmhmm," Musubi hummed for him with an affirmative nod. "Right now, I can feel that two Sekirei are currently reacting to you, Minato, and one of them is right here," she gestured to the other brown-haired beauty.

"You don't say?" Uzume deadpanned. "I had no idea I was reacting to him," she said sarcastically as she jabbed a thumb at him.

"I was just reiterating it," she pouted like a scolded child. "No need to be so mean about it."

"Then thank you, Captain Obvious," Uzume drawled with a roll of her eyes.

"Anyways," Minato tried to steer the conversation back on track as the two brunette Sekirei started to glare at each other like immature children in a rivalry. "You were saying, Uzume?"

"Yes, I was," she agreed as the other Sekirei huffed. "You know how my Ashikabi has been sick for a long time, right?" At both of the other conversation participants' nods, she continued, "What I haven't told _anyone_ is that I was the Veiled Sekirei.

"Now before you fly off the handle," Uzume hurriedly tried to explain as Musubi became visibly angered, "I didn't do it because I wanted to." At this, the other brown-haired beauty nodded for her to continue with her explanation. "Listen, I know what I did was wrong, okay? But I didn't have any choice in the matter, as there was still a chance to save Chiho.

"About a month-and-a-half ago, the owner of the hospital treating Chiho approached me. He's bad news, you two, and what's worse is that he's an Ashikabi himself. However, he's not like you Minato, as he's never anywhere near the fighting and I don't think he possesses a single kind bone in his body. Higa always manipulates others into doing his dirty work for him, keeping his personal Sekirei away from danger – but I can assure you that he doesn't do it out of love for his Sekirei."

"You said Higa, right?" Musubi queried. "As in Higa of the East?"

"Yes," Uzume confirmed for her.

"I'm going to say – based on what you've told us already – that Higa blackmailed you into working for him by threatening your Ashikabi's life," Minato said after thinking on everything she'd revealed for a moment. "He then ordered you to take out specific targets, and Kuno was one of your _assignments_."

The two Sekirei both blinked in shock at how quickly the young Ashikabi had been able to gather all of that so quickly. "Uh… yeah," Uzume confirmed for him. "How'd you figure all that out before I told you? 'Cause I was under the impression you _failed_ the Entrance Exams twice now."

"I have," he retold her. "But I could piece what you gave us together, combined with the accounts Musubi and Tsukiumi gave us on their brief encounter with the Veiled Sekirei when they met Kuno. They said that you didn't flee from the battle, even at the thought of having to fight through two of your friends to get to a seemingly-unimportant target, and you seemed like you just _had_ to get to Kuno for some reason. If you didn't have a target specified for you, then you would have simply retreated as soon as Musubi and Tsukiumi showed up and gone off to find another Sekirei to battle.

"The fact that _you're_ the Veiled Sekirei only proves my guess that Higa was blackmailing you, as you've repeatedly told us that you didn't want to have to fight us for as long as possible, yet you did so in order to try and take out your target. So, basically, you became the Veiled Sekirei in order to keep giving your Ashikabi a fighting chance, and agreed to do Higa's dirty work so long as Chiho kept receiving her treatment.

"Have I missed anything? It honestly wasn't that hard to figure out."

Uzume and Musubi were staring at him, shock apparent in their eyes and their jaws on the floor.

"That's…pretty much the whole story," Uzume told him after picking her jaw up off the ground. "I'm amazed you failed the Entrance Exam _once_ with that brain of yours."

"Huh?" He tilted his head at his soon-to-be Sekirei in curiosity, unsure of her meaning. "What do you mean?"

"She means, Minato," Musubi spoke to him, "that you're apparently _much_ more intelligent than you believe you are. You just put together and explained her deepest secret with only two additional pieces of information. Let me put it to you this way: You just took two corner pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and immediately were able to paint the entire picture yourself. That takes _real_ intelligence, Minato."

"I'm not that smart –" he attempted to deny before Musubi cut him off.

"I didn't say you were smart," she reminded him sternly. "I called you intelligent; there's a difference. You can be intelligent without being smart, and you can be smart without being intelligent."

"Huh?" was the confused reply of both of the room's other occupants.

"Let me explain it like this: Intelligence is the ability to solve a problem that you're not familiar with by using your ability of reason to draw connections between individual variables that others may not notice. Einstein's Riddle about 'Who owns the Fish' is a good example."

"I remember that one!" Minato exclaimed. "Mom gave it to me when I started High School. It took me an entire day to solve it, but I did it!"

"Minato," Uzume told him flatly. "You do realize that the man who _came up_ with the riddle said that ninety-eight percent of the world's population wouldn't be able to solve it, right? Takehito gave it to me to help pass the time, and I tossed it in the trash after a month!"

"_That's_ intelligence," Musubi reiterated for him. "Being smart is different, but can be just as impressive. 'Smart' is connotative to the ability to memorize and recall complicated formulas and individual statistics or numerical values. Asperger's Syndrome is a wonderful example of 'smart,' as one person was able to memorize and recite the numerical value of pi to its four-thousandth digit.

"However, some smart people lack intelligence – not that they all do, it's just not a prerequisite – and aren't able to solve a problem that they've never encountered before. Such as: Not being able to solve an equation that is based off of a concept that they've never studied before, while an intelligent person would seek out a way to connect the concept the formula is based off of to the basics that the subject is in, as the formula must meet those standards, at least, and then work towards solving the equation using simpler methods."

The young Ashikabi's mind was whirling around in circles at her explanation, but he had to agree with the Sekirei's reasoning between the differences; they were slight, but they were critical. He'd met people who could solve the most problematic mathematical, numerical equations but couldn't solve a fairly simple logic-based game or puzzle on their own. "So you're saying that the difference between being intelligent and just being smart is the ability to be flexible in problem-solving?" he asked, understanding her point.

"Correct!" she chirped happily. "It would seem that your problem is your confidence, but we'll work on that sometime. Now," Musubi's expression darkened as she turned serious. "We need to decide on what to do about Higa. Uzume is family, and we will always defend family."

"Listen," the focus of their attention tried. "I really don't care about him right now. All I want to do is move on with my life once Chiho's…gone."

"We understand that, Uzume," Minato assured her soothingly. "However, I don't think we should do anything to him right now, Musubi."

"What!?" both brown-haired Sekirei yelled, but each for different reasons.

"Think about it," he reasoned with them. "Higa at the very least owns a hospital, and that likely means he's a prominent businessman with a lot of power and influence, not to mention the fact that he's also a very strong Ashikabi. If we went after him right now, all we'd cause is chaos and panic, which would most likely create more harm to the businesses he owns and the people who have nothing to do with his decisions.

"I'm not saying that Higa won't get his," the grey-eyed youth added. "I'm just saying that we need to be smart about it. I'll discuss it with Matsu and come up with some ideas on how to go about handling him. Until then, I don't want anyone going anywhere alone, particularly you, Uzume. You've been a part of his operations already, so he will most-likely come after you in order to keep you silent once he realizes you didn't deactivate once your Ashikabi dies."

"I… I hadn't thought about it," she admitted hesitantly.

"He's right," Musubi agreed with her Ashikabi. "If Higa really is the type of person you said that he is, then he'll consider you a loose-end that has to be taken care of before you can inflict any sort of damage. Right now, he believes that he doesn't need to do anything, as you're supposed to deactivate once your Ashikabi dies. But he _will_ notice that you aren't gone, Uzume."

"Don't worry though," Minato reassured her with a loving smile. "As Musubi said, you're family, and we always look out for our own here, regardless of the odds. I promise that we'll protect you with all we've got, Uzume."

Her eyes began to tear up as her own pair of brown orbs were brimming with happiness. Not only did they figure out her secret, they still understood and accepted her and loved her anyways. "You guys…" she told them as a tear fell. "You guys don't know how much that means to me."

"Family is everything here at Izumo Inn," Minato said to his soon-to-be Sekirei with a grin.

"Speaking of," Musubi piped up with a possible scenario which would've changed everything. "What would you do if Higa abducted Yukari in order to try and control you, Minato?"

"Higa'd do it," Uzume confirmed for him after wiping her face on her shirt. "He has no moral compass when it comes to these things."

The two brown-haired Sekirei shivered at seeing their Ashikabi and soon-to-be Ashikabi's eyes go frigid, and as he spoke, his voice was even colder than his eyes. "Then all bets are off for him."

* * *

"Well, this is it," Uzume told them all as she stopped at a door with the nameplate reading 'Hidaka C.' She then took a deep breath to help steady herself before revealing to all of the present Izumo Inn residents, "This is Chiho's room."

"Are you going to be okay, Uzume?" Miya asked with genuine care.

The brown-haired girl with the side-ponytail just shook her head. "It hurts, Miya," she reiterated. "To know that…"

Minato placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "We're all here for you," the black-haired Ashikabi assured her with a caring smile.

Uzume's right hand went across her body and grabbed the young man's hand on her shoulder. She squeezed his hand with her own and turned her head to where she could see him from behind her. Water was beginning to build up in the corners of her brown eyes as she nodded to him and said, "I know you are, Minato, and you can't know how much that means to me." She finished with a sad smile as a single tear fell from her left eye.

Musubi reached up from beside her and wiped away the fellow brunette's tear. She then told Uzume, "I know I don't have the right, but I am sorry, Uzume. If there were something I could do, maybe change the past, then –"

"Don't," Uzume interrupted in a harsh whisper. "Just…don't. I… What's done is done," she tried to say evenly, but her voice slightly cracked. "I don't wanna talk about it now."

"She's right," Kazehana said soberly. "We're here for a reason."

"Right," Minato agreed with a nod directed towards the Sekirei of Wind before slowly removing his hand from the young woman in front of him.

Uzume slightly whimpered at the loss of comforting contact. The normally-bubbly Sekirei quickly reached behind her and grabbed his falling hand with her own. She then looked at him with tear-brimmed eyes and begged him, "Please?"

Minato offered her a kindly smile after getting over the shock he felt at seeing Uzume so vulnerable for the first time. He nodded and answered her gently, "Sure."

Normally, any time the young Ashikabi was being affectionate with any single Sekirei, Tsukiumi and Kusano were both very vocal in their protests. However, today they were both sporting melancholically saddened expressions, as each of Minato's Sekirei understood that Uzume _needed_ comfort right now, and the only person who could help her the way she required was their Ashikabi.

Uzume rested her head on his shoulder and let out a resigned sigh.

"Are… Are you ready?" Minato asked the Sekirei – literally – on his shoulder.

She let out another resigned breath before lifting her head from his shoulder and answering him, "Yeah. I'm about as ready as I could ever be."

Miya – as she was the one standing closest to the doorway into Chiho's hospital room – then pushed the handle down and slowly opened the door. The entryway turned inwards and silently opened on oiled hinges.

Minato and the rest of the present Izumo Inn residents then filed in as the landlady quietly ushered them all in. Uzume and Minato walked in first, then Tsukiumi and Kusano, then followed Kazehana and Miya, and Musubi reluctantly entered the frail Ashikabi's hospital room last with her head looking at the floor as the door quietly clicked shut behind her.

The room wasn't very large or plush, was Minato's first impression of it. It was only about an average-sized room, as it was feeling a little cramped with seven additional visitors in it. There was a single bed where the patient was laying that had an electronic display of the patient's heart-rate showing and letting out an electronic beep every time Chiho's heart pumped.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

On the bed was the person Minato had to believe was Uzume's current and first Ashikabi, Chiho. The girl was unnaturally pale – her skin was even whiter than the hospital bed-sheets, she was so small that you could see her skeletal frame underneath her skin, looked frail enough that even a slight breeze would be enough break the poor girl, and had numerous wires and other hospital instruments hooked up all over her body.

_This is just…horrible,_ Minato thought about the other Ashikabi's fate. _And M.B.I. had the cure all along,_ he silently thought as he felt a little righteous anger begin to build up within him at the realization that this girl's life would've been saved had Minaka shared his company's medical science. The young man's free hand clenched into a tight fist and began to tremble. _This shouldn't have been allowed to happen._

The black-haired youth felt a slight mental nudge come from Musubi, pushing his anger to the wayside for now. _We can talk about what could've been later,_ his first Sekirei's voice echoed in his mind, startling him. _Right now, Uzume needs you,_ she reminded him.

Minato then felt the hand wrapped in his own squeeze tighter. He looked over and noticed the brown-eyed girl standing next to him was quietly shaking.

The grey-eyed Ashikabi tried to search for her emotions like he did for Tsukiumi the previous night, but the absent presence of a true bond's forming between them prevented him from knowing what she was feeling. _I knew it was a long shot,_ he thought sadly as his mind retreated from its search, _but I had to try. I guess I'm not all-powerful after-all._

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Is that…you…Uzume?" the weak voice of the small girl in the hospital bed broke the room's silence.

"It is," Uzume tried to stay strong, but a few tears began to fall. "I brought some friends today so they can meet you."

"I'm…glad," Chiho said weakly, but still communicated her gratitude. The sickly girl's brown eyes noticed the locked hands. Her eyes then flickered up to meet Minato's grey ones as she greeted him, "You…must be…Minato."

"I am," he returned the greeting politely. "Uzume's told me all about you, Chiho."

The small Ashikabi cracked a small smile at him. "I'm afraid…there's not much…to say."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Uzume shook her head at her Ashikabi's words. "That's not true," she attempted to scold her bonded partner with a few warm streaks falling down her face. "There's plenty to say about you, Chiho. Like how you're the kindest, nicest person I've ever met. Like how you're so strong to…"

Chiho chuckled weakly before telling her Sekirei, "I know…it's close, Uzume."

"Yeah," Uzume choked out as she willed her sobs to stop. She then wiped her eyes with the pair of wrapped hands in a futile effort to stymie the tears before gesturing to the violet-haired woman in the room. "This is Miya, Chiho. She's the one who's always making our lunches."

"Nice…to meet…you…Miya."

"The same to you," Miya returned kindly as she inclined herself in a partial bow to the sickly girl. "I'm so glad to finally meet the person who was able to make Uzume so happy."

"I…didn't do…much," Chiho attempted to deny.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Miya stepped aside, and then a visibly saddened Kusano walked up to Chiho's bedside. Uzume introduced her, "This little tike here is Kusano. She's the one know as the 'Green Girl,' and is one of Minato's first Sekirei."

"'Nee-chan," Kuu said as she poked her head over the side of the bed. "Are you gonna get better? Kuu thinks 'nee-chan and her would be good friends."

"I'll always…be around," the smaller Ashikabi said to the smallest Sekirei. "And I also think…we'll be…great…friends. Can you…make me…a promise?"

"Mmhm!" Kusano bobbed her head in response.

"Will you…make sure…Uzume…will keep…her costumes?"

"Sure!" the green-eyed girl chirped before Miya grasped her hand and walked her away from the bed so the others could speak.

"You must be…Kazehana," Chiho said as the purple-clad Sekirei replaced Kusano at the sickly girl's bedside.

"I am," Kazehana confirmed for her sadly. "I…"

"You're the one…Uzume keeps…talking about," the brown-eyed Ashikabi told her with a small smile. "Can you…keep her…out of trouble…for me?"

"Yeah," the Sekirei of Wind agreed with a sad nod. "It's my job as her older sister to keep her out of trouble, unless I'm the one causing it." She and Chiho then shared a few dry laughs. "I'll be there for her," she reasserted soberly, "even if she doesn't want me to be."

"I…appreciate it."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"The big-boobed blonde here," Uzume continued to introduce everyone as Kazehana moved away from the sickly girl and gestured to the Sekirei of Water, "is Tsukiumi. She's the one I told you about the other day."

"Ah," Chiho realized. "So you're," the young girl said to Minato's elder blonde Sekirei, "the one…who wants…to be…your Ashikabi's…wife?"

"I… 'Tis so," Tsukiumi responded to her with drooped shoulders.

"Uzume...tells me…that you're…the dignified…one."

"I… suppose 'tis true," the blue-eyed Sekirei said. "I am usually the one correcting impropriety by the others should the landlady be absent."

"Can you…help Uzume…then?" the frail girl requested politely. "She really…needs…it."

Minato felt a few tears well-up in his own eyes. _All she wants,_ he realized,_ is Uzume to be happy._ He then looked at the brown-haired Sekirei holding onto him and saw that she was sniffling and desperately trying to hold back more tears.

Tsukiumi nodded to the young girl in the hospital bed. "I can," she promised the young Ashikabi. "I shall do my utmost to accomplish that."

"Good…luck…with that," Chiho stated with a small chuckle. "Uzume's…kinda…a lost…cause…but I'll…hold you…to that."

"The room's too small," Miya told everyone. Tsukiumi and Kazehana nodded in agreement, each knowing what the violet-haired woman was doing. The landlady, Kusano, and the other Sekirei who'd already spoken with Chiho each then walked out of the hospital room.

The only people left in the room with Chiho were Minato, Uzume, and a nervously fidgeting Musubi.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"And you…must…be Musubi," Chiho greeted kindly. "I promise…I don't…bite."

"I…" Musubi nervously bit her quivering lip. "I'm so sorry!" she screamed in regret as she flashed across the room and appeared at Chiho's bedside. The Reborn Sekirei of Fate was crying in hysterics as she repeated in a whisper, "I'm so sorry. I… I'm the reason you're…"

"Hush now," the sickly Ashikabi gently scolded the sobbing woman. A frail hand shakily rose from the bed and rested on Musubi's cheek as she told her, "I don't…blame you…Musubi."

"Why?" Minato's Sekirei sobbed. "If I hadn't… If I hadn't… I'm the reason you're dying!"

"No," Chiho told her kindly, "you're not."

Musubi's eyes went wide in shock as more tears continued to drip from her face. "Wha –"

"You're not…the reason…I'm dying, Musubi," she reiterated, not allowing Musubi to continue on her current thoughts. "I'm dying…because…I'm sick. Everyone dies…someday. Some…are able…to stay healthy…and die…of old age. Others…aren't able…to. It happens…it comes…and we can't…ignore it. People live…people die. Some choose…to be sad…while others…try to…be happy.

"Don't blame yourself," Chiho requested from her pillow with a resigned smile as her hand fell back to her mattress. "We only…get…one life…Musubi. Please don't…waste it…with regret. Even Sekirei…will die…one day, and…if you…blame yourself…then you'll never…be able…to be at…peace. I don't…blame you…so don't…blame…yourself."

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"I…" Musubi began as she kept sobbing. "I… I… Thank you," she choked out as tears continued to drip from her chin. "You're right. If I… If I hated myself, then I'd never be able to forgive myself and move on with Minato."

"See?" Chiho asked with a noticeable effort on her part. "Don't you…feel…better now?"

With tears still falling, Minato's first Sekirei nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It really does."

"She's so…kind," Minato whispered in amazement.

He then felt Uzume squeeze his hand again. "I know," she whispered back to him. Uzume then walked over to her Ashikabi's bedside with Minato right beside her. Musubi scooted to the side and allowed them to take her place, with Uzume standing directly beside her Ashikabi's head and Minato to her left. "You really are amazing, you know that, Chiho?" the brown-eyed girl told her Ashikabi with a few tears falling from her eyes.

"I'm not…much," Chiho denied yet again. She then looked at the male Ashikabi and requested, "Minato?"

"Yes?" he returned.

"Will you…look after…Uzume…for me?"

"Of course," he offered the small Ashikabi a kind smile. "I'll always look out for her. I'll do my best, every day, for her. I'll keep on working on making her smile like she deserves to be. It's a promise, from Ashikabi to Ashikabi."

Uzume sniffled once more before Chiho spoke, "I'm…glad. And…Uzume?" she called as she continued to breath heavily.

"Yes, Chiho?"

"Remember…our…promise?"

Uzume bit her quivering lip as she nodded to the girl. "I do," she assured her Ashikabi. "I'll keep it."

"That's…a…relief."

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

Minato noticed that the heart-rate monitor was beginning to slow down. Uzume must have noticed it as well, as his hand was being squeezed even tighter now.

"I'm…so…happy," Chiho revealed with a happy smile on her face. "You…found…someone…to…"

"I did," Uzume reassured her.

_Beep…Beep…_

"I…love…you…Uzu...me…" Chiho finished as her eyes began to close for the final time.

"I love you too, Chiho," her Sekirei retold her for the last time. Uzume then leaned over the side of the bed and captured her Ashikabi's lips, one last time.

As their lips met for the final time, Minato witnessed pure-white Wings of Light suddenly sprout from behind the Sekirei of Veils. However, at most time the light was merely bright whenever a Sekirei's wings appeared, the amount of light Uzume's wings were creating was nearly as blinding as the sun. For a good solid two minutes, the room was bathed by the illuminating glow from Uzume's Wings.

After the second minute passed, the light began to slowly fade and dim as the Sekirei's Wings started to shrink, little by little. As her Wings continued to recede, Uzume's muffled sobs racked her body. Tears kept on falling from her beautiful brown eyes and dripped onto her dying Ashikabi's peaceful face. "Chiho," she cried softly into her Ashikabi's mouth.

Musubi began to sniffle again as more warm streaks continued to fall from her own pair of brown orbs. Minato could feel the sadness radiating from his Sekirei through their bond, and it began to completely overwhelm him.

The young Ashikabi felt a few tears fall from his own face as he grabbed a flower out of the vase at the foot of Chiho's bed with his free hand.

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep._

"Chiho," Uzume hiccupped as her wings completely disappeared and she slightly leaned up from her Ashikabi's face. Her nose was nearly touching the sickly girl's own as she called again, "Chiho. Chiho," she repeated a little louder. "Chiho!" she yelled in denial.

The peaceful-looking girl offered no response.

"CHIHO!" Uzume wailed in desperation as she shook her head, water spraying over her Ashikabi's face from her eyes. After another moment passed with no response, Minato pulled her back up and Uzume fell to her knees and descended into a bawling mess as she pleaded, "Chiho."

Minato placed the white rose in the now-deceased girl's hands over her chest. He then told the now Ashikabi-less Sekirei, "She's gone."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry about the delay for this story. It's been a little while, and I'm kind of disappointed in myself at this delay. Luckily, I think I've got a good enough system now so that I can handle work and writing, so I will be able to go back to steady updates hopefully.

Chiho's death has to be the most emotional scene I've ever written, and that's saying something. I had to kill my heart in order to keep churning onwards, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. I was able to get into the right mindset for the scene by watching the Hinata and Yui moment in Angel Beats, in case you were wondering, as that is the most emotional moment in an anime that I've watched. 'The Feels on the bus go SAD, SAD, SAD.' I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed tears of manliness when I watched that scene and I wrote that scene.

Also, about everything else: It will all be explained in due time. This story is planned to be somewhere between 35-45 Chapters, which is rather short considering the planned length for both of my other fics are at least 75 chapters each. The plan for the next few chapters is how to handle Musubi's new powers and Uzume's grief, as well as a little more explorations into other powers Minato might or might now possess, so things are coming soon. There should be a big battle soon enough, like within the next three chapters, so you'll get your Sekirei action soon enough.

One more thing: If any of you have played the Sekirei video game and know anything about Kuruse, then please message me. I'm curious about her character, and am contemplating including her as well. However, I have no idea about her character aside from what she looks like and that she is a trident-based fighter. She makes no appearance in the manga, but is listed as one of Minato's Sekirei on the official Sekirei wiki. I want to know about her: How she fights, what she's like, why she appears, why Minato makes her one of his Sekirei, etc... So please message me if you know about Kuruse. I can't read or write Japanese, so I'm kind of screwed on playing the game myself and finding it our on my own.

That's all I think, if any of you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. If they don't play into the plot, then I'll answer them directly. If they do, then I'll tell you the stereotypical 'No Comment,' or 'Be Patient and you'll get your answers.'

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I know I did, even if I nearly became a sobbing wreck during the Chiho scene.

Later folks!


End file.
